HYDERABAD, Oct 7: The Amir, Jamaat-i-Islami, Hyderabad, Shaikh Shoukat Ali said that instead of quoting the Hudaibia spact the rulers should remember the battles of Badar and Ohad.

Mr Ali was addressing the “Afghanistan Defence Solidarity Rally” at Market Chowk on Sunday.

He said that if the US committed the blunder of invading Afghanistan, its fate would not be any different from that of the USSR.

He advised the rulers to understand correctly “the mood of the people”.

Mr Ali warned the rulers that the day the American forces landed in Pakistan, they would be “thrown out of power the same day”.

He condemned the house arrest of Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Maulana Abdul Waheed Qureshi said that America was dreaming of becoming a policeman of the world and talking about peace, “but it had failed to restore peace in its own country”.

Mushtaq Ahmed Khan said that it was America which had pitted the Taliban against Gulbaddin Hikmatyar and patronized Osama bin Laden, but at that time they were not considered terrorists, and added that today when the Taliban had enforced an Islamic system in Afghanistan, they had all of a sudden become the enemies of the US.

The others who addressed the rally included Rana Mehmood Ali Khan, Raja M Hussain, Maqbool Ahmed Shaikh, and Umer Farooq among others.

The rally was supposed to march from the Market Tower upto Gari Khata but a heavy contingent of police prevented it from doing so.

Declaimation contest: Rear Admiral Mohammad Haroon S(M), T.Bt, Commander, Karachi and the chairman of the board of governors, Cadet College Petaro (BOGCCP), has said that debates, contests, extra and co-curricular activities play a very important role in bringing out the hidden talents of young students and in grooming their personality.

He said residential institutions, like Cadet College Petaro, were rendering a yeomen service to the nation as they were producing a balanced and wholesome personality, fit to shoulder the responsibilities of the country.

He was speaking as chief guest at the 10th All Pakistan English Declamation Contest held at the Quaid Hall under the auspices of English Debating Society, Cadet College Petaro, here on Saturday.

He appreciated the standard of speeches delivered by the young speakers, and said the topics given for the declamation contest were interesting, relevant and suitable.