KARACHI: Religious parties back protest on Bush’s visit
KARACHI, March 3: Although, the All-Parties Action Committee (APAC) has announced ‘black day’ to be observed on Saturday (March 4) against President George Bush’s visit to Pakistan, no programme with regard to rallies or demonstration has been chalked out by most of the component parties in the alliance.
An APAC release said that the political and religious parties under the umbrella of the APAC would stage protest demonstration at the Empress Market, Saddar, on Saturday.
Convener of the APAC, Zafar Taqi Rizvi, who is also President of the Pakistan Nationalist Party, said here on Friday that by observing the black day, the people of Pakistan would show their concern over the elimination of thousands of people in Iraq and elsewhere in the world by US-led forces.
He said that the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan, Tehrik-e-Insaaf, National Workers Party, Pakistan Muslim League-N, Awami National Party, Anjuman Naujawanan-i-Islam and several other parties would take part in the protest.
The PTI has planned rallies and demonstrations on Saturday in major cities of the country against President Bush’s visit and to condemn US policies towards Muslims. It declared President Bush as ‘enemy of Muslims and humanity’. personality.
One of the protest rallies would be taken out from Rawalpindi and the participants would march up to the Parliament House in Islamabad, it said.
Leaders of several religious parties, including Jamaat-i-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) on Friday announced that they would observe the black day on Saturday.
The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal has also supported the PTI’s call for the protest. However, most religious parties did not specify what sort of protests they had planned.
A PPP leader said on Friday that his party did not agree on staging protest against President Bush’s visit to Pakistan because “it does not make any sense.”
“We can hold protest against US policies but protesting against the president’s visit is waste of time and energy,” he remarked.
Although the JI, JUI-F and other religious parties repeatedly condemn the US policies and President Bush, they were have not yet announced holding of any big demonstration anywhere in the country against President Bush’s visit.
A JI leader, when contacted, dispelled the impression that his party was doing nothing on this occasion. He explained that the JI had already announced support to protests by any party in this regard. The party would hoist black flags and ask its leaders and workers to wear black armbands on the occasion of President Bush’s arrival, he added.
A JUI-F leader said that the religious parties and people of Pakistan were protesting against the publication of blasphemous caricatures at the moment. As such, he added, his party did not want to confuse people by giving a call for protests on other issues, which included President Bush’s visit.
“The biggest issue before the Ummah at this moment is the blasphemous caricatures, and we want to concentrate on it and use all our energies on this issue,” he said.—PPI
