Sunni clerics call for long march on Oct 16

The Sunni Ittehad Council announced that it would hold a long march in protest against terrorism on October 16.

LAHORE: The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) on Sunday announced that it would hold a long march in protest against terrorism on October 16.

The announcement was made during the ‘Peace Conference’ organised by the SIC to remember the martyrs of the Data Darbar attack.

The conference, held outside the shrine of Hazrat Ali Hajveri, aka Data Gunj Baksh, was attended by thousands of people.

The participants passed a resolution condemning Indian aggression in Jammu and Kashmir and Israeli aggression in Palestine, demanding the immediate expulsion of US troops from Afghanistan, and an end to the US drone strikes in Pakistan.

Addressing the conference, Fazale Karim, the SIC chairman, said that the long march would begin from Lahore and end at Islamabad. He said that the Sunni clerics had come together on a single platform to implement Nizam-e-Mustafa, to restore peace and to end terrorism in Pakistan.

He criticised terrorists for killing “millions” of innocent people in the garb of jihad (holy war).

“These anti-state and anti-social elements bring bad name to Islam and Pakistan,” Karim said, adding that the associates of these terrorists and the US were both Pakistan’s enemies.

He said that the international powers were hatching a conspiracy against Pakistan. “Our diplomacy has failed miserably to protect Pakistan’s interests and we are left alone in the world, and the rulers have left the people at the mercy of terrorists,” he said.

He said that Sunni clerics were being targeted by terrorists but they would not remain silent.”We will defend the prestige of our country,” Karim said.

Other speakers at the conference included Sarwat Ijaz Qadri, the Sunni Tehreek chief, Allama Syed Riaz Hussain Shah, the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat chief, and  Hanif Tayyab, the SIC secretary general.

Allama Syed Riaz Hussian Shah said that the time had come for muslims to sacrifice their lives for the dignity of Islam. He said that every Sunni child would defend the tombs of the saints.

Sarwat Qadri asked the people to launch a social boycott of the politicians, who, he said, fooled the people to get as many votes as possible.

If the government does not provide justice to Sunni clerics, he said, the only option left to them would be ‘to meet aggression with aggression’.

He said Sunnis were being forced by terrorists to pick up weapons.

Following the speeches, the participants prayed for the flood victims and those affected by the target killings in Karachi. They demanded that an effective prosecution department be established to punish terrorists.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2010.