Long march over as DPC camps outside Parliament

Maulana Samiul Haq says theirs is not a political march, but a Jihad against those who imposed slavery upon Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD: Incensed over the government reopening Nato supply lines through Pakistan, the Defence of Pakistan Council’s long march aimed at 'ridding the country of American poseurs' reached Islamabad late on Monday evening and staged a sit-in outside the Parliament.

After entering Islamabad, the rally reached D chowk where they set up a temporary stage for DPC leaders to address the gathered crowd and fellow marchers.

Maulana Samiul Haq, chief of the Jamiat-Ulema-Islam-Sami group (JUI-S), stressed that their march was not for political reasons, rather their rally was one of Jihad against oppressors.

He said that Pakistan has become a slave to the US and the political parties bowing to imperialist demands need to be cast out.

“These rulers are viceroys of the US,” an angered Maulana Haq boomed.

“We need to free our nation. This parliament is in name only and has no power … and now the parliament is being used to undermine the Supreme Court and the judiciary, so what can you expect from this set up,” the JUI-S chief lamented.

He added that American cultural slavery has been imposed on Pakistan leading to the promotion of vulgarity in the society.

Around 15,000 protestors gathered outside the Pakistani parliament and chanted anti-US slogans, waved banners of the DPC, a coalition of right wing and hardline religious groups which organised the protest march which passed through Rawalpindi after originating in Lahore on Sunday.

After having reached its destination, the march ended, transforming itself into a protest demonstration which demanded the supply line be closed.

Islamabad had last week agreed to reopen overland routes to NATO convoys after a seven-month blockade sparked by a botched US air raid on a border post that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.