Political campaign: JI stages rally in Karachi

Accuses ANP of partnering with criminals for the upcoming elections.

KARACHI:

In a show of strength, the JI successfully arranged a public gathering near Quaid’s Mausoleum at Bagh-e-Jinnah on Sunday, a few days ahead of the elections. The rally came at a time when other political parties were shying away from holding public gatherings due to security threats.

“We accepted the challenge to revive political activities in the city of lights and faced it squarely,” said party chief Syed Munawar HasanHe said his party’s gathering would boost voters’ confidence to participate in the elections, and that merely casting votes would not be enough in Karachi.

“I direct all party workers to go to each and every polling station early in the morning and not let any terrorist organisation manipulate the results.”

Hasan rejected concerns that liberal parties were not being allowed to run their election campaigns.

“All the so-called liberal parties were in the government for the last five years. The election commission as well as the caretaker government is at their ‘service’ now,” he said, adding that he did not know who these parties were approaching for security if they did not want the army to play a role in the elections.



Hasan said that those who tagged themselves as liberals were supporters of America, and could only execute the agenda of the Americans. He further added that all those who opposed America were classified as conservatives.

“Let me tell them loud and clear, this country was not made for liberals but for the believers in Quran and Sunnah. If they insist on being liberal, they should consider themselves amongst the minorities in this country,” he said.

The Jamaat-e-Islami party chief also criticised the Awami National Party (ANP) for  ‘partnering wth criminals’ for the upcoming elections.

“Would the ANP retract all those charge sheets against the MQM that its leadership had issued during the last five years,” said Hasan.

“The irony is that both these parties, time and again, had declared each other terrorists, land-grabbers and were involved in target killings of activists.”

Questioning Army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani’s statement about the war on terror, Hasan said that if it was Pakistan’s war then Gen Kayani should answer why it was designed, orchestrated and initiated from the United States, firstly in Iraq and then in Afghanistan.

“What was the quantum of terrorism in Pakistan before becoming a part of this so-called war on terror?” he asked.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2013.