JI observes Karachi Solidarity Day

Karachi Solidarity Day was observed on Friday on the call of Jamaat-e-Islami chief Syed Munawar Hasan. Protest rallies were held in the federal and provincial capitals besides district headquarters after the Friday prayers. Addressing the rallies, JI leaders condemned targeted killings, the bloodshed, extortions and abduction in Karachi and expressed solidarity with the residents of Karachi.
Speakers said the government was responsible to control the bloodshed in Karachi. They urged all religious and political parties to sit together minus the MQM for finding a solution to the Karachi crisis. Addressing the Friday congregation at the Mansoora mosque, Syed Munawar Hasan said Karachi was bleeding from wounds inflicted by its so-called ‘well-wishers.’ Munawar said the international mafia wanted to destroy Pakistan and were plotting the conspiracies from Karachi and Balochistan.
He said the MQM was their local contact. Munawar said it was immaterial whether the MQM was a part of the Sindh government or not since an MQM man had been Sindh Governor for the last ten years. He said two days ago when the MQM observed a day of mourning, traders and businessmen shut the city in fear of the MQM. Addressing a rally at Multan Road near Mansoora, JI Secretary General Liaquat Baloch said that colonial powers wanted to take away Pakistan’s freedom.
He said he had told the Zardari government not to turn Karachi into slaughter house to prolong its rule. He said that if the PPP failed to restore peace to the country, the future of democracy and politics would be in endangered. He said calling troops into Karachi would not help solve the issue but would open the path for US and Indian interference in the city. He asked media to name those responsible for the violence in Karachi. JI deputy SG Dr Farid Ahmed Piracha said the appeal by the Sindh government to extortionists to vacate Karachi was strange.
He said governments must decide whether to side with extortionists or provide security to citizens. In Karachi, a rally was staged from Binoria up to the Mazar-e-Quaid . Senior JI leader Prof Ghafoor Ahmed, led the rally and later addressed protesters. In Sukkur, a rally was held at the local press club. Another rally was held in Hyderabad.