LAHORE, Nov 11: Jamaat-i-Islami termed on Monday the army’s reaction to its chief Syed Munawar Hassan’s statement a direct intervention in the country’s politics and said groups with “certain objectives” and a specific mindset were trying to ignore important issues and demands of national interest through secondary debates.

On Sunday, the Inter-Services Public Relations condemned the JI chief’s recent statement in which he had expressed doubts about martyrdom of thousands of army and security personnel who have sacrificed their lives in the war against terrorists.

“If an American is not a martyr, then how a person who helps and supports him (American) can be called a martyr,” he is reported to have said in a TV programme. He described Hakeemullah Mehsud, the ruthless Taliban leader killed in a US drone attack, as martyr. “In a high-profile meeting of our party, the participants were of the view that the army has no right to directly intervene in the country’s politics and democratic issues. The JI will never tolerate such military interventions,” Secretary General Liaquat Baloch said at a press conference at Mansoora, also attended by senior party leaders, including Naib Amir Sirajul Haq.

The JI chief did not attend the news conference, although he presided over the meeting.

Mr Baloch did not take media questions.

“Why the army ignored JI’s resolutions and the party chief’s policy statements which condemned the tragic incidents of Salala Post and Upper Dir and paid tribute to the martyrs. Through such resolutions and statements, the JI acknowledged and paid tribute to the sacrifices of army officers and Jawans, besides appreciating the role of the armed forces in the country’s defence,” he added.

Mr Baloch alleged that since it was time to discuss and accept the demand for closing Nato supplies and stopping drone attacks, the people with certain mindset were trying to divert the nation’s attention to non-issues. He said JI leaders were of the opinion that the country must be pulled out of the US war immediately because it was a continuation of the policy of military dictator Pervez Musharraf. He said the JI would continue its struggle to free Pakistan from US slavery and safeguard the country’s ideological and geographical boundaries. “The JI also plans to intimate the government in this regard.”

Jamaat’s central leader Dr Farid Piracha told Dawn after the meeting that the party had issued its policy statement and considered Mr Hassan’s statement as his personal opinion.

Earlier, a JI leader told Dawn that Mr Hassan would not speak to the media for the next couple of days because of sensitivity of the issue. Asked if the party had stopped him from doing so, the leader said: “No. But he (Mr Hassan) will not speak to the media on this or any other issue for the next couple of days.”