Pakistan, Oct. 18 -- The biggest question about Maulana Fazlur Rehman's politics remains the same today as it was thirty years ago: Are his principles permanent, or do they change with political circumstances?

In Pakistani politics, there are some names without whom political history is incomplete. Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F), is one of them. A part of parliamentary politics for decades, and present in some form in every government. But the most painful question about his long political life is still unanswered: Is the centre of his politics based on principles or on interests?

This question is not opposition to one party or one person, but a fundamental right of the people in a democratic society. When a le...