Show of force: Streets of the capital play host to banned outfits
The Difa-e-Pakistan Council announces All Parties Conference in Quetta on Feb 29.
ISLAMABAD:
Thousands of Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) supporters poured onto the otherwise highly secured streets of the nation’s capital on Monday, as leaders of banned organisations expressed their firm resolve to continue their struggle until US intervention in the country’s internal affairs had come to a halt.
It was the latest show of force by the council, which is a rainbow coalition of around 40 parties that include organisations blacklisted at home and abroad as terror groups. The alliance had chosen Aabpara Chowk, just a few kilometres away from the US Embassy in Islamabad, and a short distance away from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) head office, to organise a sit-in.
“Today, we have gathered here to raise a voice of protest against US intervention in Pakistan,” said chairman of the council Maulana Samiul Haq, adding that America wanted to break Pakistan into pieces, referring to a resolution sponsored by three US lawmakers calling for self-determination in Balochistan.
MIA
However, three prominent leaders including Jamaat ud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Maulana Ahmed Ludhianwi and Dr Khadim Hussain Dhillon were missing in action due to the ban imposed on them by the capital’s administration from entering the city.
“Hafiz Muhammad Saeed will not come to Islamabad to avoid confrontation with the government and will not attend the rally,” Yahya Mujahid, a spokesman for JuD, said.
The council, among other things, announced an All Parties Conference (APC) on Balochistan to be held in Quetta on February 29 while there was unanimity among the alliance’s leadership over the full blockade of Nato supply routes through Pakistan, ending US intervention in Pakistan’s internal affairs and withdrawing a move for a normalised trade relation with India.
Addressing the gathering, Maulana Samiul Haq stated that a key objective of the council is to defend the geographical and ideological frontiers, to free Pakistan from foreign interventions and to establish a strong defence and social welfare system in the country.
“We know this is a difficult journey towards our destination. But we have to render sacrifices to achieve these objectives,” Haq said.
Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Syed Munawar Hasan, who also spoke at the rally, claimed that the US was hatching a conspiracy against Pakistan’s sovereignty and its nuclear assets.
“The US is the biggest terrorist of the world and it has initiated economic and strategic wars against the Muslim world,” Hasan maintained.
Jamaatud Dawa’s Hafiz Abdur Rehman Makki also spoke at the rally, saying: “Both the US and our spy agencies know better how many jihadis have been prepared during the last decade in our country, who will defend this country in case the military fails in its job.”
Meanwhile, a rally organised by JI in Rawalpindi also joined the public gathering by DPC in Islamabad. Dozens of people left in buses for the federal capital, eventually reaching the jam-packed Aabpara Chowk. Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmad also joined the DPC rally in Islamabad. Also present was former ISI chief Gen (retd) Hamid Gul.
Anti-US sentiments
“Death to America” and “America deserves one treatment: jihad, jihad” shouted the crowd in a bustling commercial area.
Allah Buksh, a senior police official, said 2,500 attended the demonstration as it got under way, but witnesses estimated the crowd at 3,500 as hundreds of riot police, armed with batons and wearing bullet-proof jackets, stood guard.
“The friend of the US is a traitor,” “the friend of (Pakistani President Asif Ali) Zardari is a traitor” and “the friend of (Afghan President Hamid) Karzai is a traitor,” shouted the crowd.
(Additional input from AFP).
Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2012.
Thousands of Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) supporters poured onto the otherwise highly secured streets of the nation’s capital on Monday, as leaders of banned organisations expressed their firm resolve to continue their struggle until US intervention in the country’s internal affairs had come to a halt.
It was the latest show of force by the council, which is a rainbow coalition of around 40 parties that include organisations blacklisted at home and abroad as terror groups. The alliance had chosen Aabpara Chowk, just a few kilometres away from the US Embassy in Islamabad, and a short distance away from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) head office, to organise a sit-in.
“Today, we have gathered here to raise a voice of protest against US intervention in Pakistan,” said chairman of the council Maulana Samiul Haq, adding that America wanted to break Pakistan into pieces, referring to a resolution sponsored by three US lawmakers calling for self-determination in Balochistan.
MIA
However, three prominent leaders including Jamaat ud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Maulana Ahmed Ludhianwi and Dr Khadim Hussain Dhillon were missing in action due to the ban imposed on them by the capital’s administration from entering the city.
“Hafiz Muhammad Saeed will not come to Islamabad to avoid confrontation with the government and will not attend the rally,” Yahya Mujahid, a spokesman for JuD, said.
The council, among other things, announced an All Parties Conference (APC) on Balochistan to be held in Quetta on February 29 while there was unanimity among the alliance’s leadership over the full blockade of Nato supply routes through Pakistan, ending US intervention in Pakistan’s internal affairs and withdrawing a move for a normalised trade relation with India.
Addressing the gathering, Maulana Samiul Haq stated that a key objective of the council is to defend the geographical and ideological frontiers, to free Pakistan from foreign interventions and to establish a strong defence and social welfare system in the country.
“We know this is a difficult journey towards our destination. But we have to render sacrifices to achieve these objectives,” Haq said.
Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Syed Munawar Hasan, who also spoke at the rally, claimed that the US was hatching a conspiracy against Pakistan’s sovereignty and its nuclear assets.
“The US is the biggest terrorist of the world and it has initiated economic and strategic wars against the Muslim world,” Hasan maintained.
Jamaatud Dawa’s Hafiz Abdur Rehman Makki also spoke at the rally, saying: “Both the US and our spy agencies know better how many jihadis have been prepared during the last decade in our country, who will defend this country in case the military fails in its job.”
Meanwhile, a rally organised by JI in Rawalpindi also joined the public gathering by DPC in Islamabad. Dozens of people left in buses for the federal capital, eventually reaching the jam-packed Aabpara Chowk. Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmad also joined the DPC rally in Islamabad. Also present was former ISI chief Gen (retd) Hamid Gul.
Anti-US sentiments
“Death to America” and “America deserves one treatment: jihad, jihad” shouted the crowd in a bustling commercial area.
Allah Buksh, a senior police official, said 2,500 attended the demonstration as it got under way, but witnesses estimated the crowd at 3,500 as hundreds of riot police, armed with batons and wearing bullet-proof jackets, stood guard.
“The friend of the US is a traitor,” “the friend of (Pakistani President Asif Ali) Zardari is a traitor” and “the friend of (Afghan President Hamid) Karzai is a traitor,” shouted the crowd.
(Additional input from AFP).
Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2012.