Most of the religious parties, even those with their known tacit support for al Qaeda on Monday, avoided showing any sympathy for slain Osama bin Laden. Most of them focused on condemning US for ‘violating Pakistan’s sovereignty’.
They criticised the government and country’s intelligence agencies for their inability to stop US operations on Pakistani soil. Meanwhile, the Jamaat-e-Islami chief Syed Munawar Hasan said that since the US has eliminated its prime target, it should immediately withdraw from the region. He said that US has no justification to stay here any more. He was talking to the reporters at a press conference at Mansoora.
Hasan said that the details about Osama Bin Laden’s killing given by the US had made the entire matter ‘doubtful’. He said there was no ‘direct’ evidence supporting United States’ claim that Osama had been killed. He said that US failed to show the world bin Laden’s body. He slammed Prime Minister Gilani’s statement that he said endorsed the US action and that it showed the rulers were happy for being ‘America’s puppets’.
“Islamabad’s reaction was totally against the national mood as the nation was in a state of shock”, he observed. He said the Pakistani intelligence agencies and national security institutions had been kept in the dark about the US operation that was against country’s independence and sovereignty. He said the appointment of General David Patreaus as next CIA chief was an indication that the US was pursuing its ‘nefarious’ agenda to destroy Pakistan.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Jamaat-ud-Dawa chose to switch off his cell phone throughout the day, while Tehrik-e-Jafria Pakistan head Syed Sajid Naqvi shied away from giving any comment. Convener of Tehrik-e-Namoos-e-Risalat (TNR) and central leader of JUP Dr Abu-al-Khair Zubair said, “Now when Osama is dead and US has got its enemy No. 1, US must leave Afghanistan and Pakistan. Because US has already butchered thousands of Muslims”.
He added, “As far as bin Laden is concerned, anybody who fights against the Jews and their allies would be the hero for Muslims across the world,” said Abu-al-Khair. The leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F), Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, said that the defeat of US and its allies in Afghanistan was ‘crystal’ clear. Chairman of Sunni Ittehad Council Haji Fazal Karim was of the view that any US operation on Pakistani soil could be disastrous for country’s sovereignty.
Maulana Shamus Moavia, Ameer Jamaat-e-Ahlesunnat-wal-Jamaat Punjab, was of the view that nation should stand against the blatant violation of its sovereignty.
