Fazlur Rehman jabs Khawaja Asif over Tehran defence talks

In the National Assembly on Wednesday, JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman needled Defence Minister Khawaja Asif about the high-level Tehran talks.

He said a defence agreement was taking shape in Iran while Pakistan’s defence minister sat at home. Lawmakers laughed.

What Fazlur Rehman said in the House

“Khawaja Asif sahib is also present here,” Fazlur Rehman said, and he mentioned the agreement in Iran while the minister sat in the House.

He then turned a famous line of Asif’s against him: “Koi sharam hoti hai, koi haya hoti hai.” It means that people should have some shame and decency.

Another report quoted him asking whether the Interior Ministry has duty there too. It said both the defence minister and the foreign minister were in Pakistan while the meeting took place.

A video of the exchange has gone viral. JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza shared it on social media.

The Tehran meeting behind the jab

Fazlur Rehman referred to talks held in Tehran on Monday. Field Marshal Asim Munir, who serves as Chief of Defence Forces, joined Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin.

They met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and his team. The three envoys represented the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, which Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed in August.

Pact representatives and Iranian leaders had not met before. The discussion centred on regional security and on stopping a new military escalation.

Next day, Asif declared that Pakistan would stand by Saudi Arabia with all its force, as the pact requires. In a television interview, he also said the discussions in Tehran were more of an effort to address what is happening in Saudi Arabia.

He credited the initiative to the efforts of the field marshal. He added that the United States would also have come up in the talks.

A famous line comes back

The line Fazlur Rehman used is among the most quoted in Pakistani politics. Asif once aimed it at PTI lawmakers in the House, and it later turned into a popular meme.

Social media users said this may be the first time someone used the phrase against Asif while he sat in the House. According to one report, Asif also smiled.

Other points from Fazlur Rehman

In the same National Assembly speech, Fazlur Rehman urged both sides of the House to sit down and write a new Charter of Democracy.

He also said the prime minister had asked him to help end the PTI’s Islamabad long march. Afterwards, he claimed, the government changed course and brought in emergency and Governor’s Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In his view, having such powers on paper does not make their use democratic. He asked why extraordinary steps came so suddenly if the government had been ready to negotiate. He also raised Balochistan, where instability and abductions deserve the same standard, he said, as the law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

For now, the remark by Fazlur Rehman has given the Tehran talks a new place in the political debate at home.