Nationalistic fervour: JI urges tribesmen to protest reopening NATO supplies
Qazi Hussain says US wants to make India the regional power.
DI KHAN:
Persuading tribesmen to take a stand against the US, the Jamaat-e-Islaami (JI) said it was only the Mehsuds that could prevent reopening of Nato supply routes.
Addressing a rally here on Thursday, JI’s former chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed said the Nato attack in November last year was a disgrace to the Pakistan Army, which “still seems willing to restore the supply line.” Qazi said the tribesmen should rise against the reopening of the supply route. “The US is targeting tribal people because they are strict followers of Islam,” he said.
He said the tribal people had first defeated Russian forces in Afghanistan and now the US forces in the conflict-stricken region. Only the tribal people can stop the reopening of the Nato supply line, he said. “Tribesmen have the spirit of Jihad, which no weapon in the world can fight.”
The rally was attended mostly by internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Mehsud tribe of South Waziristan.
He further said the United States does not favour cordial relations between Pakistan and China and wants India to be the regional power.
Qazi was critical of former president Pervez Musharraf’s policies. “Musharraf is responsible for displacing the people of Fata, particularly the Mehsuds, who are now living in camps.”
JI’s chief in Fata, Haroon Rashid, said the sacrifices made by the tribal people in the Pakistan Movement will be remembered. “Unfortunately, politicians and army generals have always exploited tribesmen and even today they are being used as fuel for the raging fire in Fata.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 6th, 2012.
Persuading tribesmen to take a stand against the US, the Jamaat-e-Islaami (JI) said it was only the Mehsuds that could prevent reopening of Nato supply routes.
Addressing a rally here on Thursday, JI’s former chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed said the Nato attack in November last year was a disgrace to the Pakistan Army, which “still seems willing to restore the supply line.” Qazi said the tribesmen should rise against the reopening of the supply route. “The US is targeting tribal people because they are strict followers of Islam,” he said.
He said the tribal people had first defeated Russian forces in Afghanistan and now the US forces in the conflict-stricken region. Only the tribal people can stop the reopening of the Nato supply line, he said. “Tribesmen have the spirit of Jihad, which no weapon in the world can fight.”
The rally was attended mostly by internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Mehsud tribe of South Waziristan.
He further said the United States does not favour cordial relations between Pakistan and China and wants India to be the regional power.
Qazi was critical of former president Pervez Musharraf’s policies. “Musharraf is responsible for displacing the people of Fata, particularly the Mehsuds, who are now living in camps.”
JI’s chief in Fata, Haroon Rashid, said the sacrifices made by the tribal people in the Pakistan Movement will be remembered. “Unfortunately, politicians and army generals have always exploited tribesmen and even today they are being used as fuel for the raging fire in Fata.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 6th, 2012.