PESHAWAR – Supporters of Fazlur Rehman, the chief of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), have announced a strong protest against a private TV channel for mocking their leader in a live show.
The show, that was being held in the backdrop of the Senate elections, included a panel of experts who were discussing the probable outcome of the elections. When Fazlur Rehman was contacted on the phone for his point of view, his picture was captioned as ‘Maulana Diesel’.
Now the JUI-F workers will hold a protest march towards Geo TV’s office in Peshawar, despite the TV channel’s online apology for gaffe over derogatory name.
The party has invited all their followers from Jamia Imdadul Uloom.
In a series of tweets (in Urdu), the Geo TV apologised for the mistake and vowed to investigate the matter further in order to find the culprit who messed up the graphics.
One tweet read: “The organisation wholeheartedly apologises to Maulana Fazlur Rehman and his supporters.”
ادارہ مولانافضل الرحمان اورانکےچاہنےوالوں سےتہہ دل سےمعذرت خواہ ہے
— Geo News Urdu (@geonews_urdu) March 3, 2018
Another tweet read: “We will investigate the matter to find the culprit involved in the incident.”
مولانا فضل الرحمان سےمتعلق غلطی کیسےنشر ہوئی ،تحقیقات کی جارہی ہیں
— Geo News Urdu (@geonews_urdu) March 3, 2018
“Geo News is extremely sorry for airing the wrong graphics under Fazlur Rehman’s name.”
مولانا فضل الرحمان سےمتعلق جیونیوزکی غلط گرافکس نشرہونےپرادارہ معذرت خواہ ہے
— Geo News Urdu (@geonews_urdu) March 3, 2018
The gaffe also brought a storm on social media, with twitteratis expressing a mixed reaction over the gaffe.
Whatever one thinks of Maulana Fazl ur Rehman, calling him in such a derogatory manner by a Newss Channel is highly unprofessional and unethical to say the least. Mere apology will not do Geo must take action against the responsible &the apology must be on tickers for a few days
— Prof Ijaz Khan (@ijazkhan) March 4, 2018
Apologizing is not enough. The person who committed the mistake should be penalized. Mocking party heads will not help. Legislation should be done.
— Muhammed Zafir Zia (@zafirzia) March 4, 2018
This was no Mistake …. to hell with Geo and the libturds
— کشمیر کو آزادی دو! (@ShoaibQureshi93) March 4, 2018
Some took this ‘combustible’ mistake too lightly:
آج جیو نے ڈیزل کو ڈیزل کہ دیا، کل نااہل کو نااہل ہی نہ کہ دے?
— zia?? (@zia_qadir) March 4, 2018
JUI F is now seriously thinking to change the name from Diesel to Petrol.
— Fayyaz Gul (@fayyazgul) March 4, 2018
Fazlur Rehman, who was born in Dera Ismail Khan in 1953, took over the JUI’s reins in 1980 at the age of 27, when his father Maulana Mufti Mahmoud died.
Like his father, Fazl draws his support from followers of the Deobandi school of thought which is part and parcel of JUI-F’s ideology.
During the government of late Benazir Bhutto (1993-1996), Fazalur Rehman who was serving as the Minister of Petroleum had shown his keen interest in receiving diesel quotas from all over the country, which earned him a title of ‘Maulana Diesel’.
