Sunni council takes out rally to support army

Speakers say the govt should launch an operation against the Taliban.

FAISALABAD:

The Sunni Ittihad Council (SIC) on Friday organised a rally in Faisalabad against the Taliban and to express solidarity with the armed forces of Pakistan.

Thousands of people attended the rally taken out from Sunni Rizvi Jamia Masjid, Jhang Bazaar.

Speaking on the occasion, SIC Vice Chairman Sahibzada Hasan Raza said the government should “immediately start a cleanup operation against the Taliban.”

“They [the Taliban] are not in favour of Pakistan… they are killing innocent civilians and jawans,” he said.

Raza said the government should stop the ‘peace talks’. “Strict action should be taken against the terrorists so that those who have been martyred can rest in peace.”

He said “patriotic Pakistanis” would take to the streets if the government did not launch the operation. “The entire nation will stand by with the armed forces in this struggle,” he added.

The SIC leader said the defence minister and the provincial law minister should stop supporting the Taliban. “There is no point in having peace talks with those who have killed thousands of innocent people,” he said.

Anjuman Fidayan-i-Rasool president Muhammad Faiz Rasool Rizvi, Mufti Muhammad Ramzan Jami, Qari Muhammad Amin Rizvi, Khurram Shehzad Mustafa, Malik Rizwan, and Malik Muhammad Asad Rizvi were also present on the occasion.

The Sunni Tehrik Pakistan (STP) also observed the Anti-Taliban Day in Jaranwala on Sunni Ittehad Council’s call.

The STP leaders said the Taliban were opposed to the Constitution of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2014.