KARACHI, Feb 22: The All Parties Conference organised by the Jamaat Islami on Thursday has announced that a protest day will be observed today, Friday against the ban imposed on Al-Rasheed Trust and Al-Akhtar Trust

The speakers at the conference, which was chaired by Professor Ghafoor Ahmad and organised at the Idara Noor-i-Haq, further demanded that the ban be lifted immediately and these organisations be allowed to carry out their social welfare activities so that he masses could benefit.

They also condemned the government and said that while the foreign funded NGOs, which were propagating alien culture, vulgarity, and propaganda, were allowed function the social welfare organisations were banned.

They said that soon after the 9/11 the government, under the US pressure, had banned these trusts but when they moved the superior judiciary, the high court allowed them to operate as the government could not bring anything illegal against them.

They said now once again the government, terming the UN suggestion, has closed these organisations which would be contempt of court as the court had allowed their operations.

They said the government has not followed its own rules and regulations as under the rules a show cause is to be issued against the organisation against which action is to be taken, but no such steps were taken while closing these organisations.

They said that at the time of the earthquake these organisations had reached the victims in the remotest parts in the Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir before others, including the army, and the government had also appreciated the efforts made by these organisations, but now their operations had been closed down.

They said these organisations have distributed clothes among more than one million people, was operating medical centres all over the country, mosques had been constructed in the earthquake affected places, sewing machines distributed among widows, and water courses constructed in the Balochistan’s arid areas.

They said that these organizations did not receive any donation from the foreign countries or organizations and depend totally on charity from the Pakistanis and Muslims, and by taking action against such organisations that the government was trying to create a gap between the masses and the armed forces.

Fateha was also offered for all those who died in the Samjhota Express tragedy.

Prof Ghafoor Ahmad, Zain Ansari, Habibuddin Junaidi, Sidiq Rathore, Zia Abbas, Ali Bahadur, Rasheed Kashmiri, Mohammad Afzal. Nasurullah Shaji, Yunus Barai, Nusrat Mirza, Qari Mohammad Hussain, Qari Mansoor, Zubair Khan, Dr Mairajulhuda Siddiqui, and others spoke at the meeting.