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Pakistani Religious Leaders Pledge Struggle with Afghans
By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Sept 28 (IslamOnline) - Pakistan's leading religious parties on Friday observed "Protest Day" across the country against a possible U.S. attack on Afghanistan, as well as against an alleged Pakistani government decision to provide its soil and other facilities to American troops.
Protest demonstrations were held outside major mosques throughout the country in which a sizeable number of people took part.
The leaders of the three main religious parties - Jaamat-e-Islami (JI) , Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) - while addressing the Ju'ma (Friday) congregations, warned Pakistan's military government of serious consequences if it allowed the U.S. to use the country's airspace and other related facilities to launch attacks on Afghanistan.
JI Chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad warned Friday in Karachi that a possible U.S. attack on Afghanistan was not in Pakistan's favor.
Pakistan is an independent country. It must have its own policies. If the government toes the U.S. policies, the people of Pakistan will never accept it, he opined.
Ahmad went on to say that Israel was the biggest terrorist country in the world, and that America had continuously been propagating its own versions of terrorism against Muslims. If America wants to curb terrorism, it should stop patronizing the Israeli atrocities first, he maintained.
The JI chief was of the view that without any cogent proof, to target a Muslim country would also be a terrorist activity, which would not be acceptable to the Pakistani nation.
Pakistan at this critical juncture needs a daring leadership. It is a nuclear country, but its leadership is behaving in a cowardly manner, Qazi said, adding that General Pervez Musharaff - before extending all support to the U.S. for an attack on neighboring war-torn Afghanistan - should have asked the Americans first for proof against the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden, blamed by the U.S. for masterminding the September 11th terror attacks.
Allegations against the Taliban and Bin Laden were aimed at concealing the incompetence and negligence of U.S. agencies, said Qazi.
Pakistan would never accept U.S. dollars at the expense of its dignity and self-respect, he reiterated.
Muslims all over the world condemn the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Qazi said, but America is blaming Muslims for these attacks, which is totally unjust and untrue.
Addressing the Jum'a congregation in Karachi, JUI chief Fazl-ur-Rehman said if the U.S. attacked Afghanistan,
jihad (struggle) would be obligatory on all Muslims worldwide.
When Russia attacked Afghanistan, there was no Islamic government, but even then, Pakistanis participated in the struggle against Russian forces, Fazl said.
Today, there is an Islamic government in Afghanistan and America wants to replace it by pro-West elements, he said, adding that it is now the duty of all Muslims to struggle against U.S. aggressive forces.
In Pakistan, he said, the JUI and other religious parties would continue their movement through political means; in Afghanistan, however, thousands of Pakistani people would fight along with Taliban in case of any outside aggression.
Commenting on Youm-e-Yahjehti, observed September 27th on the government's appeal, he questioned why the day had been observed to mark solidarity with America rather than with the Pakistani nation.
This, he observed, was a move aimed at appeasing the U.S. The people of Pakistan had nothing to do with that so-called solidarity day.
JUP chief Mualana Shah Ahmed Noorani said the people of Pakistan stood with Afghan Muslims and they would fight along with them to defend a Muslim country.
He said American authorities should consider the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in a realistic way, because bin Laden could not manage such high-tech attacks that killed thousands of innocent people.
The people of Pakistan categorically denounce such terrorist attacks, but the attachment of these attacks with Muslims is equally condemnable. Islam is a religion of peace and it has nothing to do with terrorism, he maintained.
This, he said, was a calculated conspiracy to portray Islam as a terrorist religion. Islam condemns all types of terrorism and whoever has done this heinous act has nothing to do with Muslims or Islam, he concluded.
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