Saying 'no' to NATO: DPC long march enroute to Gujranwala
Hundreds of cars were part of the procession.
The participants included activists from Jamatud Dawa (JuD), Ahle Sunnat Waljamat (formerly known as Sipah-e-Sahaba), Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI), and Jamat-e-Islami (JI).
JI’s caravan had already reached Nasir Bagh under the leadership of Amirul Azeem where JuD ‘s caravan, led by Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, joined it.
JuD's caravan had proceeded from Masjid-e-Shuada where JI leader Sayed Munawar Hasan, DPC chairman Molana Samiul Haq, former ISI chief General (r) Hamid Gul, his son Abdullah Gul, Pakistan Ulema Council head Maulana Tahir Ashrafi and other leaders joined them. The leaders were mounted on a truck, which also doubled as a moveable stage.
A number of JD and Hizbul Mujahideen activists were providing security to the truck.
The leaders delivered speeches at Istanbul Chowk at The Mall in front of Town Hall.
Addressing the protesters, Maulana Samiul Haq said they were holding a long march to save Pakistan and Afghanistan from the clutches of the US, adding that their movement would continue until complete withdrawal of US forces from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
He said suspension of Nato Supply is one of their goals, urging the masses to join them towards Islamabad.
Addressing the gathering, JI’s Syed Munawar Hasan said the long march was a sigh of relief for the people from the anti-people policies of the government, reiterating Haq’s stance of continuing the struggle till complete ouster of US forces from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
He said the government was trying to make Pakistan a colony of the US and hence the DPC was holding the march to rid the country of this slavery, asking those, who are against drone attacks and terrorism to join the long march.
Saeed also urged the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to join the DPC long march, adding that those who were not joining the DPC were part of the government and would be equally responsible for the government’s decisions, including allowing resumption of Nato supply.
The protest was welcomed by a large number of JuD supporters at Shahdara Chowk, and Muridkey. The participants are scheduled to spend the night in Gujrat.
On July 9 the long march would leave Gujrat at 10 am and would reach Islamabad on the same day through Lala Musa, Kharian, Sarai Alamgir, Jehlum, Dina, Sohawa, Gujar Khan. The leaders will decide the final venue for the march after consultation with participants from Rawalpindi and Islamabad, which could be either the D ground or some ground in Aabpara.
DPC activists, media clash as Gen (r) Hamid Gul faints
During the march, there were also reports of General (R) Hamid Gul fainting at Shahdara, where he was rushed back in an ambulance, provided by Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation, an offshoot of JD. Activists of JD clashed with some photographers and cameramen of different media outlets for filming the episode, terming it as embarrassing for them.
'Government will not stop DPC long march'
Senior Advisor to Prime Minister on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik has said that the government will not stop the DPC long march, letting them to record their protest against Nato supplies resumption in front of Parliament on Monday.
“We will not stop DPC long march. By letting the DPC to hold rallies, we want to prove the government’s stance that that country’s 'deep state' is not involved in DPC's genesis,” Malik said on Sunday.
However, while briefing the media over the long march, he said that the Government would not allow leaders of banned outfits to participate in this procession.
“Individuals of banned organizations and others placed on Schedule - IV of the anti-terrorism act will not be allowed to enter into Islamabad.”
Security arrangements
Chairman National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) will install CCTV long range cameras on various commercial areas of federal capital, while Secretary Interior Sadiq-e-Akbar will monitor the proceedings of the long march and speeches by their leaders.
Islamabad police, including Frontier Constabulary and Rangers will be deployed along the route of the long march to protect the participants as well as public and private properties.
Akbar said that the DPC had ensured that the procession would remain peaceful.
Four helicopters were assigned to conduct aerial monitoring from both sides of Jinnah Avenue, Islamabad while two helicopters would also be provided to Rawalpindi police for aerial surveillance.
Eariler, speaking at the DPC All Parties Conference, Maulana Samiul Haq said that the re-opening of Nato supplies was an insult to the parliament. On behalf of the participants of the APC, he demanded that the government resign.
He said that the long march was not just against re-opening Nato supplies but also against corruption, the increase in prices and power outages. He said that drivers, conductors, helpers and mechanics of Nato containers should refuse to work on them since advancing the Nato supply was an “un-Islamic act.”
As per a media briefing by Maulana Samiul Haq, the long march is expected to reach Gujrat on Sunday from where it will proceed towards D Ground in Islamabad in front of the Parilament House where the procession will be held.
According to Haq, this was the first phase of their protests and the second phase would hold marches from from Quetta to Chaman, Karachi to Hyderabad, Multan to Dera Ghazi Khan, Sargodha to Mianwali, Peshawar to Khyber Pass, Rawalpindi to Chakwal Talagang, Faisalabad to Sargodha, Khushab and Islamabad.
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@zalmai
Please don't ever speak for Afghanistan.
Let people at Afghanistanafterdeomcracy.com do that.
These are REAL Afghans
@zalmai
Pakistan has had losses with over 40000 civilians killed, thousands of security forces dead, and radicalization all around.
It is not Pakistans national interest or business to have supply
My numbers are 100 percent solid , cited by Afghanistanafterdemocracy.com
Sources are from REAL Afghans unlike you
@keralla
You are 100 percent right , Pakistan needs to stay out of this conflict by stopping this arrangement if supply
Agree with that? Otherwise, Pakistan will break along ethnic lines
@kerrala
You can't vouch for anything .
1 send the DFC to oblivion 2 they should continue walking to Kabul and never return
@Wtf: Supplies are un-Islamic. So the bombs that Pakistan makes have intelligence that recognizes only who are against Pakistan. Can I have a Sole Agency of these bombs for my country.
Don't say MULLAH ! It's a very bad and harsh word after all we are muslims. Un-fortunately there are no strong hold of oppositions in the parliament. DPC is the voice of people of Pakistan.
@Parvez:I nominate you for the best comment of this article.
tell those mullas help those people who driving nato truck's,r/they gonna pay them from there pocket,how much tax those people pay last 20 years.we r/murccey of those mob's and r/leaders r/hostage .if goverment can not bring law in order in the country then should not be allow in the president seat,if they can not do there job then out the them out.
Now, there is no benifit to fight, either go with DPC or come out openly agaist them.
@Faraz
Respectfully disagree with you, and hope for the best for peace
@wtf
PPP gets votes in interior Sindh. Does this mean, PPP is made up of peasants? Same goes for mullahs. Mullahs are part of the elite. Foot soldiers are poor people, just like poor PPP voters. Army also rises from middle class, so did MQM; are they not the elite?
This demonstration is necessary, it allows the letting off of steam. They will shout, make speeches, burn flags, stamp their feet and then get exhausted and go home. The maulana's will encourage them, play their part that they do so well, get into their Land Cruisers and go home as well, to await their next assignment.
@keralla
I don't think I am allowed to post up links here, but a simply google search will yield you the same results I used. Actually, way more than a million Afghans have died.
Secondly, using a comparison of the deaths as a result of the civil war as justification for the current deaths due to this war is pretty sick and twisted.
Whatever way you want to look at it, I have already explained to you why the supplies are un-Islamic
@Wtf
By mullahs, I mean the top clerics, leaders and organizers of religious parties and jihadi groups. Of course, the foot soldiers are children of poor families. That’s what I said, mullah exploit the poverty of people to attain power. Why did mullahs oppose land reforms if they wanted to help poor? During cold wars, religious parties gave fatwas against labour unions and workers. Isn’t jihadi groups mere exploitation? Why should tens of thousands of Pakistanis die in Afghanistan and Kashmir to achieve defense policy aims after giving spending 50 percent ton defense budget?
Feudals finance mullahs, and mullahs prevent uneducated youth and peasants from challenging the power of feduals. Religious indoctrination induces fatalism in the poor; mullahs convince them that poverty is their fate ordained by God.
@Faraz
I disagree with your revision of history, and see it the other way with established parties (PPP,PML-N) as well as the army meshed together with feudals to form one elite group.
Religious groups and 'Mullahs' rise from the poor/peasant class. This is it.
PTI on statements offers the best way out of thus mess-out of the war, and a concerted campaign with the judiciary against corruption.
Even PTI may end up lying too for a chance at the treasury, and providing civilian cover for army
And Allah knows best
@Faraz
I have hardly heard of landlords and Mullahs being synonymous
Or common. Most mullahs are from the majority poor.
@Qadir
It is un-Islamic because the supplies are used and result in the deaths of many many people in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
@Faraz
Bhutto himself was a landlord and his son in law Zardari is too. His land is still belonging to the family.
Land reforms. Rhetoric doesn't mean a thing especially when there is so much hypocrisy.
So they will create a traffic block tommorow morning in route to my office.
He said that drivers, conductors, helpers and mechanics of Nato containers should refuse to work on them since advancing the Nato supply was an “un-Islamic act.”
This is an example of how these people use religion for personal benefit. Can someone explain how transporting NATO goods is un-islamic?
@Wtf
You know liberals supported land reforms. But all religious parties and mullahs opposed it. Bhutto’s land reforms were declared unislamic by Shariat court, and millions of peasants were put under bonded labour.
Well at least you agree that religious parties recruited children from poor families and had them killed in Afghanistan and Kashmir.
According to your analysis, Islamists should win elections because poor are 80 percent of Pakistan. And PML and PPP should bag 1 vote of liberals! As I said earlier, apolitical urban middle class suffering from identity crisis are impressed by shallow rhetoric of Islamists .
@karella
Weak disclaimer. What can another country do if Pakistan establishment wants to open supply lines? Would Iran tell Pakistan to have shame?
They probably did. I don't understand whatever you listed.
The vast vast vast majority of Pakistanis are opposed to supply lines
Over a million Afghans have died from this war. GO fact find
May Allah guide our nation. and i really hope that people like mr. hamid gul live and more are born like them. Standing for the defence and honor of our country.
@Faraz
I'm pretty accurate on connection between feudalism and liberals and business elites.
Understand the liberals, many of them work or go to school in the West. They come from well off families that were enriched due to land distribution by British Raj.
They, the liberals want the current system to remain intact, and that is why they support PPP or PML-N.
Islamists draw their ranks frOm the poor mostly
Nato supply should be closed.... support these people for such a sacred purpose.
@Wtf
I think we are stuck in the 90s. Majority Pakistanis love Afghan Taliban and consider them the sole representatives of whole of Afghanistan. The fact is that 54 percent Afghans are non-pushtoon and they fought Taliban during 90s, and they hate them. Many urban pushtoon don’t like Taliban. Taliban have support mainly in rural pushtoon areas of Afghanistan.
Why are we forcing entire Afghanistan to accept Taliban? Why don’t we respect their opinion? How many Afghans protest against NATO, especially non-pushtoon Afghans and urban pushtoons? What about global opinion? Even China, Iran, Turkey are opposed to Taliban.
We can’t expel Afghan Taliban from safe havens in FATA and Baluchistan, so there is severe pressure on us. And I think army is no position to attack these elements. So it has to open NATO supplies to lessen pressure. Further, the collapsing economy cant face isolation; economy takes years to revive and stand on its own feet.
As far as DPC is concerned, they are proxies of those who form foreign policy; their credibility is nil. They were used by the state to wage proxy wars, and later abandoned. For them, a jihadi group is a business. They recruited children from poor families and had them killed in Kashmir and Afghanistan. Many of them are involved in sectarian terrorism.
And your connection between liberalism and feudalism was really amusing. Go to southern Punjab, there is an alliance between jihadi groups and feudals.
@commmon sense
You spoke common sense, but these liberal elites (feudals and associated) want you to think that their small voice is the general opinion. PEW polls reject that
@Faraz
Why are you objecting to the protest which is to end supply?
What is wrong with ending supply?
Locally and internationally banned terrorist organizations are the hope of apolitical middle class of Upper Punjab. It’s just a case of identity crisis, nothing else.
@rasheed
The liberals (minority) are feudals from time of British Raj. Their families own lands I am sure of it. Their families benefit from corruption and have monopoly on major businesses.
they are true believers. so we all should support them whatever their demand is. because we are from islamic republic of pakistan
So they are going to surround the Parliament house and it will not leave.
Major turning point . If it contInues to grow, PTI and PML-N will join the bandwagon
@Common sense:
Do you know what & who is a liberal?
In the election of 2008 PPP received over 10 millions votes, MQM 2.5 million votes, ANP 0.7 million votes, PML(Q) 7.9 million while PML(N) received a total of 6.7 million votes. Now how many million are attending DPC's rallies that you think its against people's wishes?
Lets see if DPC is able to form a government in next election and is able to kick every one else out of the parliament since you claimed every single Pakistan is against this decision.
@sil3nt: why because public give them money with open heart during their fund raising campaigns, so that is why they are hypocrites how?
PTI, JI, JUI, DPC, all are given open roads to islamabad... their approval and funding comes from whom ? they should not be ever called Islamic parties, they are hypocrites
How many people are taking part in this long march?
a pointless exercise ,will fade away soon One good thing is that the people behind them are exposed
Opening the NATO supply route is "un-Islamic"? What will they think of next?
Good, the whole nation is supporting them.
What about the 1.1 billion dollar bakshish that Pakistan has got for this act.
Exercise in total futility! So many man hours wasted aimlessly. Just imagine how many hours we waste on these unproductive activities & than blame west for all the conspiracies against us! If we have friends like these we definitely do not need any enemies. We are our own horrible enemies!
He said that drivers, conductors, helpers and mechanics of Nato containers should refuse to work on them since advancing the Nato supply was an “un-Islamic act.”
Apparently pushing the same goods in the same direction during the 1980s and from 2001 to 2011 was an 'Islamic Act'.
It further appears that apart from the fee payable nothing else has changed.
Does that mean that whether an act is 'Islamic' or not is a function of money?
Just because DPC is taking out a long march agains't this issue does not mean that this is an extremist idea and the rest of Pakistan is in favour of it. Ask any man on the streets of Pakistan - punjabi, sindhi, baloch, pathan, seraiki and even non resident Pakistanis and they will tell you that they are absolutely agains't opening up of these supply routes. What sort of democracy is this where the people's wishes are not considered and the civil-military leadership dictate policies according to what suits them (cash in the pockets). Liberals here should use a bit of common sense and try not to malign the cause (i.e. closure of NATO supply routes) by linking it to DPC.
Mullah's march to destruction of Pakistan! They are totally out of touch with the realities & out to destroy half of Pakistan after their similar debacle in 1971.
I doubt that all these Mulanas can walk all the way to Islamabad on foot. They must be inside their air-conditioned SUVs.
The face of "Islamic Republic of Pakistan". Look at thier face expression - so proud of them all. They are after real progression of the country, I think.
As per Maulana advancing Nato supply is an Un Islamic act. . So since last 8 years this Un Islamic act was continuing ( originally permitted by Army regime) So what punishment Maulana Samiul Haq proposes to all those involved in Un Islamic act ( something which is against their wishes is Un Islamic. )
@Moiz: Only because too many people are watching.
Hedgefunder: I don't oppose this very cause of their's but the things you've pointed out certainly have even more grave consequences if they understand. Mullahs are killing us with their ghairat and politicians follow a different religion known by the name corruption.
ok seculars . dont panic . they wont hurt u . come out of your hideouts . lol
Hypocrites to the core..
Offer them US visas and 99% of them will be on the next plane to US.
DPC is a bunch of hypocrites. Where were they hiding for last 11 years? Wasn't sheikh rashid a federal minister for 5 years when this supply route was consistently opened? All double standards.
@Haider Ali: so according to you peacful long march is an extremist approach and a threat for Pakistan?
The extremist approach which these people carry is a grave threat for Pakistan.
Go on and get ur destiny
Maulana Samiul Haq should also state as to how all the drivers, conductors, helpers and mechanics should support their Families without working and earning money ? Ghairat does not feed, clothed or shelter them !