Protesting Nato supplies: Right-wing groups set out on ‘long march’

Convoy of buses, trucks, cars to reach the federal capital Monday evening.

ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE: Religious groups and their right-wing supporters on Sunday began their much-hyped ‘long march’ towards Islamabad to protest the reopening of Nato transit routes by Pakistan.

Thousands of frenzied protesters joined a convoy of hundreds of buses, trucks and cars, many carrying the black and white striped flags of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC), in the 275-kilometre journey from Lahore to Islamabad.

Organisers and police put different figures on the turnout.

“Some 25,000 people have joined us at the start of (the) long march and many more would join on the way, while we have 3,000 people with us who are performing security duties,” DPC spokesman Yahya Mujahid said.

Police estimated up to 8,000 people were taking part.

The participants belonged to religious parties, including Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Samiul Haq faction) and Jamaat-e-Islami, and controversial groups like Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) and Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ).

“This is the beginning of our struggle. We want the USA to not only leave Afghanistan, but Pakistan also,” DPC Chairman Maulana Samiul Haq, who is also chief of JUI-S, told participants before the convoy set out from Lahore’s Nasir Bagh.

“This movement will continue till the government severs all contacts with the United States and Nato,” added the Maulana. He urged people to join their long march, which was being held  at ‘God’s will’.

Maunala Samiul Haq was speaking from a stage mounted on a truck where he was joined by JI Ameer Syed Munawar Hasan, JuD chief Hafiz Saeed and former ISI chief Lt Gen (retd) Hameed Gul.

Things got off to a bad start after Gul fainted and was driven to a hospital in an ambulance. JuD activists clashed with media persons who had filmed the incident, terming it ‘embarrassing’.

After a brief hiatus, JuD chief Hafiz Saeed addressed the protesters.

“All the people who believe that (the) US should leave Afghanistan and Pakistan should come out of their homes and join us,” he said. “Our aim is not just withdrawal of US from Afghanistan, but US stooges and slaves in Pakistan should also leave.”

On his part, JI chief Munawar Hasan urged all those who are opposed to US drone strikes and terrorism to join the march. The convoy is scheduled to reach Islamabad by Monday evening after passing through Lala Musa, Kharian, Sarai Alamgir, Jhelum, Dina, Sohawa, Gujar Khan. Hundreds of people are expected to join the rally en route.

Govt’s stance

The government says it has no intention to thwart the long march, although it intends to prevent leaders from outlawed groups from entering the federal capital.

“By allowing the DPC to hold rallies, we want to prove the government’s stance that the country’s ‘deep state’ is not involved in the DPC genesis,” said Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik.

“Individuals from banned organisations and others placed on Schedule-IV of the Anti-Terrorism Act will not be allowed to enter Islamabad,” he told reporters in Islamabad.

Authorities are installing CCTV cameras on the rally’s route, while helicopters will carry out aerial reconnaissance of the rally.

JUI-F’s statement

The Maulana Fazlur Rehman-led faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam is not part of the DPC. But he is also opposed to the reopening of the Nato transit routes.

Speaking in Peshawar, the JUI-F leader described the government’s decision to reopen Nato supply lines as ‘an insult to the nation’.

The government has ridiculed a parliamentary resolution by unblocking the routes, he added. “The US reciprocated to the Pakistani move the very next day with a double drone attack in Waziristan.”

(Read: Whither Difa-e-Pakistan Council)

(WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY OUR CORRESPONDENT IN PESHAWAR)

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2012.