LAHORE – Religious parties including the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and the outlawed Jamaatud Dawa organised two different rallies on Saturday in connection with the Kashmir Day. The JI’s rally started from the Nasir Bagh and culminated at the Punjab Assembly. Various leaders addressed the rally and reiterated their solidarity with the Kashmiris.
Speakers asked the Punjab Police to use an iron hand while dealing with Raymond Davis saying that if police investigate freely, they could get shocking clues from Davis. They also discussed the prevailing situation in Egypt and Tunisia and warned rulers to change their attitude otherwise fate of Zainul Abideen Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak is evident. Speakers claimed that double standards are being observed by the US, as it supports democracy worldwide but helps dictators prolong their rule in the Islamic World.
Leaders who addressed the Jamaatud Dawa rally included faction chief Hafiz Saeed, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, JI Secretary General Liaqat Baloch, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Naseer Bhutta, Kashmiri leader Ghulam Safi and Shabbir Shah, via telephone, former MNA Zaheer Abbas Khokhar and others. Addressing the rally, Saeed said that what Kashmiris were demanding for decades at Srinagar’s Laal Chowk was also being demanded at the Mall Road. He said that the Kashmir movement was sabotaged after 9/11 but now circumstances have changed and the US is running away from Afghanistan and India would also have the same fate.
Saeed criticised the government for not representing citizens at international forums and thanked Ghulam Safi for participating in the rally. He said that American judges are biased just like US soldiers in Afghanistan, which is evident in the Aafia Siddiqui case. Former JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed said that the Simla Accord was the last nail in the Kashmir issue’s coffin but our young fighters raised the issue by launching jihad against Indian forces in 1989 and since then we are celebrating a day of solidarity with the Kashmiris.
He said that the whole world could suffer if this issue remains unsettled. Qazi said that the Kashmir dispute could only be solved through the partition formula of 1947. JI leader Liaqat Baloch, who addressed both rallies, blamed the media for not representing the Kashmiris and said that the Shoaib-Sania wedding became a national issue but the media is reluctant to raise other important issues including the Kashmir dispute.
He said that we have not forgotten the blood of Kashmiris and hoped that Kashmir will soon be a part of Pakistan. PML-N MNA Naseer Bhutta said that today there are 19,000 unidentified graves in Kashmir and this is a right time to launch jihad in the valley. Different political parties had established their camps in front of the Punjab Assembly including the PML-N and the PPP.
Party leaders chanted slogans in favour of Kashmiris and played songs to express their support for the Kashmiris. Kashmiri leader Shabbir Shah, speaking via telephone, thanked Pakistan for supporting their cause and said that Pakistanis have helped Kashmiris morally, politically and diplomatically.
He said that violence against innocent Kashmiris is visible to the whole world. Ghulam Safi said the struggle to liberate Kashmir would continue. JUI-F leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed said that police are providing cakes and fruits to Davis and investigating him by calling him “sir”.
He said that at time of Pakistan’s creation, the law minister and army chief were non-Muslims due to which the Kashmir issue was not taken seriously.
