JuD expecting hundreds of thousands at Lahore moot today

Organisers say convention aimed at ‘promoting tolerance and unity and to foil anti-Pakistan designs by enemies of country’

The Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) is all set to hold its two-day “Nazariya-e-Pakistan” congregation at Minar-e-Pakistan from today (Thursday) with an aim to “defuse the political tension in the country by promoting tolerance and unity and to foil all anti-Pakistan designs by enemies of the country”.

The organisation, which has been blacklisted by the United States as a terrorist organisation, is expecting participation from thousands of supporters from across the country.

Hundreds of delegations from interior Punjab, Sindh, Azad Kashmir and Balochistan arrived in the provincial capital on Wednesday as the organisers have set up at least 70 camps across the city to welcome the participants. Banners and hoardings for the congregation were hoisted in several parts of the city since last week and JuD flags were seen on several vehicles, including public transport, moving on the city roads.

According to JuD chief Hafiz Saeed, the organisation has invited all political and religious parties to participate in the national conference on Thursday (today).

“The convention will give a message of solidarity and unity to our enemies trying to destabilise Pakistan through terrorism and sectarianism,” he said, adding that the moot aimed at promoting Pakistan’s ideology and uniting the Muslim Ummah.

Ali Imran, an office-bearer of the JuD, told Pakistan Today that about 15,000 volunteers would perform security and administrative duties at the ‘Ijtima’ while a central control room had been established at the site for facilitation and coordination.

He said that Faleh-e-Insaniyat Foundation, the charity wing of the JuD, has also arranged an exhibition at the congregation venue to highlight its relief activities in Tharparkar, Sindh, and Balochistan. He added that victims of the recent floods would also attend the JuD convention.

“A special tent city has been established at Minar-e-Pakistan to facilitate the participants,” he said, adding that it was impossible to give a number for the people arriving in Lahore for the moot as JuD was expecting “hundreds of thousands of supporters”.

Public Relations Officer for the DCO, Tariq Zaman told Pakistan Today that a no-objection certificate was yet to be issued to the JuD for holding the rally.

“The JuD has applied for a NoC in the name of Hurmat-e-Rasool Conference and it is likely that they will be issued the official permission later in the night,” he said.

INDIA CONDEMNS JUD PUBLIC EVENT:

Meanwhile, the Indian government has criticised the Pakistani government for allowing JuD to hold its congregation, saying support for a rally being held Hafiz Saeed is blatant disregard of international norm against terrorism, India’s NDTV channel reported on Wednesday.

“This is nonsense that the Indian media keeps churning out 24 hours – rubbish,” Tasneem Aslam, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson told NDTV.

Hafiz Saeed is high on the list of India’s most wanted men over allegations that he masterminded the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008, and also has a $10 million bounty on his head by the US.

However, there is no case registered against Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan and he is free to go anywhere in the country as a Pakistani national.