LAHORE, Dec 14: Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan acting amir Syed Munawwar Hasan feared on Friday that the attack on Indian parliament could be used by the United States as a justification to allow “revenge attacks” against Pakistan the way Israel had been allowed to attack Palestine.

Speaking at a meeting organized by the Pak-Afghan Defence Council at the Minar-i-Pakistan compound after the Friday prayers he also said he doubted the authenticity of the Osama bin Laden video released by the United States.

Tanzim-i-Islami amir Dr Israr Ahmad delivered the Friday sermon.

Mr Hasan alleged that the attack on Indian parliament had been orchestrated by the Vajpayee government to divert the attention of the international coalition against terrorism towards the freedom struggle in Kashmir. He said it was aimed at labelling the freedom movement as terrorism.

In the aftermath of the staged attack, he said, the US could allow India to launch an offensive in ‘self-defence’ like Israel. In view of the threat, he said, the US forces should be asked to immediately leave Pakistani territory.

The JI leader cast doubts on the authenticity of the video released by the US government, suggesting that it was a fabrication. Who, he asked, had saved the film in Jalalabad during the carpet-bombing?

He criticized the government for its stated resolve to fight the ‘extremist religious groups and parties.’ He said the religious parties had always promoted brotherhood.

Mr Hasan said the interior minister and the religious affairs minister must seek dialogue with the groups they were branding as extremists.

He said President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s insistence on remaining the president was an extreme position. Those close to him, he said, must make him understand that his desire to continue to hold the office was not in national interest. The JI leader said the government had disappointed the people by supporting the United States.

Earlier, he said protest demonstrations would be launched after Eidul Fitr to press for the release of the detained leaders of the religious parties. He said sit-out demonstrations would be staged in front of the jails where Qazi Husain Ahmad, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Maulana Abdul Haq Baloch and Maulana Azam Tariq were detained.

Defence Council leaders Hafiz Muhammad Idrees, Farid Piracha, Mujibur Rahman Inqilabi, Engr Salimullah Khan, Yousaf Ahrar, Saifuddin Saif, Sadiq Khakwani, Hameeduddin Al-Mashraqi, Mirza Ayub Beg and Zaheeruddin Babar also spoke on the occasion.

In his Friday sermon, Dr Israr Ahmad said jihad during the last two decades had astonished the West. “We have seen its frustration in the form of barbaric bombing in Afghanistan and the decision to continue it in Somalia, Sudan and Iraq.

He feared that the United States would ask Pakistan to freeze its nuclear programme, withdraw its support for the Kashmir freedom movement and impose restrictions on religious leaders and parties. Should the demands be accepted, he said, the reason for Pakistan’s existence would be eliminated.

He urged those in the Defence Council to constitute a Difaa-i-Islam Council.