Govt should break away from Pak-US partnership, says Hafiz Saeed

Jamatud Dawa chief Saeed says US is leaving Afghanistan after facing a serious defeat.

KARACHI:
Jamatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed said on Sunday that the US was leaving Afghanistan after facing a serious defeat.

“US failed to achieve its goals in Afghanistan and now wants to accomplish those same goals in Balochistan,” Saeed said.

Saeed was speaking at the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC)’s Karachi rally, organised with the support of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), where several other religious and political leaders also gave speeches.

While expressing satisfaction over the turnout at the rally, the JuD chief said that the current government of Pakistan should break away from the Pak-US partnership.

Responding to the news of Nato supply via Pakistani airspace, Saeed said that the government should stop this route as well.

Saeed also told the people gathered at the rally that India was using Kashmir as a weapon against Pakistan. He accused India of stopping Pakistan’s water and instead giving the impression that Punjab was stopping Sindh's supply, which led to a conflict between the two provinces.

JI chief Munnawar Hassan, Maulana Samiul Haq, former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Hameed Gul, former federal minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, Chief of Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ) Ahmed Ludhianvi, late General Ziaul Haq’s son Ejazul Haq, among many others, were present at the rally.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf's (PTI) senior vice-president Ejaz Chaudhry was also present at the rally.

During his speech, Chaudhry claimed that the spirit of change had spread throughout the country and emphasised that Pakistan needs to be “cleansed of America”.

JI Secretary General Liaquat Baloch and Haq, while addressing the rally, said that the DPC parties will besiege parliament on February 20 to protest against any decision related to reopening Nato supply routes.

The security cordon around the stage was earlier broken as ASWJ workers stormed the ground when Karachi leader Orangzaib Farooqi took the mic to address the rally.


Regional leaders of the parties have been making speeches since the morning. The afternoon and the evening will be dominated by the central leaders of the parties.

The speeches so far have touched on themes central to DPC, which are against reopening the Nato supply routes and ending American tyranny to live with honour. Speakers have also talked about India's role in Kashmir and some even paid tribute to Mullah Omar.

Rally preparation

Around 10,000 chairs have been set up, while several CCTV cameras have been installed to ensure security at the rally. Around 2,500 police personnel and 3,500 Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) volunteers are also on duty.

The roads leading to the venue were packed with Jamaatud Dawa and ASWJ supporters. Flags of all parties that are part of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council have been put up at the venue.

Against MFN status for India, reopening of Nato supply

Difa-e-Pakistan Council is a coalition of over 40 religious and political parties that has been vocally demanding the government to keep Nato supply routes closed and withdraw its decision to grant India the status of most-favoured nation.



The first DPC rally was in Lahore which was organised by Jamatud Dawa (JuD), whose leadership is in charge of coordination and communication between all members of the group.

Calling for the Nato supply routes to stay closed, the DPC has several times, in their past rallies, threatened to besiege the parliament in case the government decides to reopen the routes.

DPC next rally will be in Quetta on February 27.
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