JI urges govt to end efforts at friendship with India

Baloch asks United States to opt for peaceful resolution of its conflicts in region

LAHORE: The Jamaat-i-Islami general secretary suggested on Friday that the federal government abandon the idea of friendship with India. He said national interests alone should guide the foreign policy.

He was speaking at a flag hoisting ceremony at JI headquarters in Mansoora.

He said India had never reconciled to the establishment of Pakistan. He said the United States and India wanted to destabilise the country.

He said Pakistan should seek support from Iran and Afghanistan to foil their designs.

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The JI leader urged the United States to stop patronising terrorist outfits and opt for peaceful resolution of its conflicts in the region.

Baloch said Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of Pakistan. He said India had occupied the territory in violation of international agreements. He said rallies and processions held across Indian held Kashmir to celebrate the Independence Day of Pakistan should serve as a lesson for Indian government. He praised the services of Huriyyat Conference leader Syed Ali Gilani for the cause of Kashmir’s independence from India.

He urged JI members to continue their struggle for the establishment of an Islamic welfare state in the country. He said enemies of the nation wanted to divide it along sectarian lines. He said JI members should not be misled by the enemy’s propaganda.

JI amir Sirajul Haq and deputy amir Hafiz Muhammad Idrees were also present at the ceremony. PPI

Scores of PTI workers dance to the beat of patriotic music

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Lahore chapter organised a Parcham-i-Pakistan rally from Gaddafi Stadium till Charing Cross in front of the Punjab Assembly.

Scores of party workers on motorcycles, cars, jeeps and rickshaws left the Gaddafi Stadium for Charing Cross and were joined by Shafqat Mehmood and other party leaders when they reached the Shah Abdul Latif Bihtai Underpass on Ferozepur Road.

As Mehmood took the lead of the procession, the participants parked their vehicles, cranked up the volume of the music and started dancing on the road. Mehmood addressed the participants there for a short while.

Hundreds more joined the rally as it crossed the Canal Road and made its way to The Mall.

The crowd had swelled to a point where the procession would stop every other minute as participants would break into a dance.

They reached Charing Cross at around 6pm where Dr Yasmeen Rashid, Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed and others were already present.

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Addressing the rally, Mehmood said he admired the efforts of party workers in organising the rally even though it had been planned on a short notice. “Quaid’s vision for Pakistan was to make it a prosperous country but, unfortunately, exploiters and plunderers hijacked it…our mission is to rid this country of thieves and to build a prosperous nation.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2015.