Pak Opposition Leader Warns Of State Collapse: Militants Tighten Grip, Governance In Ruins, CPEC Under Threat

Speaking at an All Parties Conference, Pakistan's Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman warned that Pakistan had “failed to protect its people, their lives and property,” leaving citizens at the mercy of armed groups, News18 reported.

Rehman has a long history of taking confrontational positions against ruling governments.

He famously spearheaded the Azadi March in 2019 against then-Prime Minister Imran Khan, mobilising thousands of supporters in Islamabad in a show of street power.

In Parliament too, he has drawn attention to the state’s weakening grip over its territory, at one point alleging that police and security forces had effectively lost control of parts of Balochistan to armed militants.

In his latest remarks, he accused the federal and provincial governments of presiding over a complete breakdown of governance.

He claims that there is no discernible government writ and that militant organisations are flourishing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and portions of Sindh. 

Institutions have fallen apart entirely. Tribal areas have been overrun by militants, who stop drivers, check their identification, abduct officials and plunder citizens during the day, he claimed.

The head of the JUI-F also asserted that systemic corruption was syphoning off about 10 per cent of Pakistan's development funding to militant organisations. 

He claimed that this has undermined security and governance by making the financing of terrorism an institutionalised practice. 

“Extortion and ransom for kidnappings have become a parallel economy, while ordinary people live in fear," he remarked.

He further warned that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) routes, projected as Pakistan’s economic lifeline, were no longer safe.

Militants, he alleged, were frequently ambushing convoys, disrupting trade, and targeting workers.

Fazl's remarks coincide with growing hostilities over terror funding between provincial and federal authorities. 

Just a few days prior, the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the interior minister of Pakistan accused one another of aiding militant organisations and extortion networks.

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