Ghosts of the past: JI chief terms Molla a ‘patriotic Pakistani’
Condemns FO’s statement, praises Nisar’s take on hanging.
Condemns FO’s statement, praises Nisar’s take on hanging. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
PESHAWAR:
Recently executed Bangladeshi leader Abdul Qadir Molla’s support for Pakistan in 1971 was in fact his patriotism, as the two countries were one at the time, said Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Syed Munawar Hasan on Saturday.
Addressing journalists at the party’s provincial headquarters, Hasan said the Bangladesh government would have been justified in its action had Molla acted against the country after its independence from Pakistan.
He claimed the Hasina Wajid-led government has lost public trust, and wants anarchy and martial law in the country to avoid elections so that the opposition, led by Khalida Zia, does not gain power.
Hasan said the historic protests by the Bangladeshi people against Molla’s execution were a testimony to the fact that Molla was a patriotic Pakistani and later a patriotic Bangladeshi.
He criticised the federal government for failing to stop the execution, and said he was saddened by the Foreign Office statement terming the execution Bangladesh’s internal matter. However, he welcomed Interior Minsiter Chaudry Nisar Ali Khan’s statement on Molla’s hanging wherein he termed it “most regrettable and painful.”
Drone attacks
The JI chief said the provincial government had succeeded in denting the US by blocking Nato supplies and the government can use the situation to its advantage by asking for a cessation to drone strikes in return.
“The present government seems to be following the previous government’s stance on drone strikes,” he remarked.
Talking about military operations, Hasan said they were not the solution and only led to the displacement of millions of people, adding the Nawaz Sharif government did not seem serious in holding talks with the Taliban.
He also questioned the appointment of Maryam Nawaz as head of the youth loan scheme and said it was a question mark over the project’s transparency. He demanded the government to reveal Maryam’s credentials to be leading such a project.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 15th, 2013.
Recently executed Bangladeshi leader Abdul Qadir Molla’s support for Pakistan in 1971 was in fact his patriotism, as the two countries were one at the time, said Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Syed Munawar Hasan on Saturday.
Addressing journalists at the party’s provincial headquarters, Hasan said the Bangladesh government would have been justified in its action had Molla acted against the country after its independence from Pakistan.
He claimed the Hasina Wajid-led government has lost public trust, and wants anarchy and martial law in the country to avoid elections so that the opposition, led by Khalida Zia, does not gain power.
Hasan said the historic protests by the Bangladeshi people against Molla’s execution were a testimony to the fact that Molla was a patriotic Pakistani and later a patriotic Bangladeshi.
He criticised the federal government for failing to stop the execution, and said he was saddened by the Foreign Office statement terming the execution Bangladesh’s internal matter. However, he welcomed Interior Minsiter Chaudry Nisar Ali Khan’s statement on Molla’s hanging wherein he termed it “most regrettable and painful.”
Drone attacks
The JI chief said the provincial government had succeeded in denting the US by blocking Nato supplies and the government can use the situation to its advantage by asking for a cessation to drone strikes in return.
“The present government seems to be following the previous government’s stance on drone strikes,” he remarked.
Talking about military operations, Hasan said they were not the solution and only led to the displacement of millions of people, adding the Nawaz Sharif government did not seem serious in holding talks with the Taliban.
He also questioned the appointment of Maryam Nawaz as head of the youth loan scheme and said it was a question mark over the project’s transparency. He demanded the government to reveal Maryam’s credentials to be leading such a project.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 15th, 2013.