ISLAMABAD: As the issue of Yemen continues to heat up, speakers at a rally taken out by Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) in Islamabad on Thursday warned parliamentarians to take a decision in support of sending force to Saudi Arabia.

The speakers belonging to various political and religious as well as banned groups declared: “It is the voice of the nation to protect Saudi Arabia. Pakistan should send force to the holy land.”

The rally, ‘Protection of Harmain Sharifain caravan’, was taken out from Zero Point to the National Press Club. The speakers said the security of Saudi Arabia was for the protection of the holy sites in that country.

Prominent among those who attended the rally included JuD chief Hafiz Saeed, former Azad Kashmir prime minister Sardar Atiq, MNA Jamshed Dasti, leader of the banned ASWJ Maulana Ahmed Ludhianvi and some former jihadists including Fazlur Rehman Khalil.

Talking to Dawn, Sardar Atiq said he attended the rally on the request of its organiser - JuD.

Speakers say military presence will protect Muslim holy sites in the kingdom

“We have been part of the Defence of Pakistan rallies for so many years. It should be understood that the presence of people like me in such rallies has helped reduce extremism among the ranks of these groups.” This is evident from the fact that no sectarian-based slogan was chanted in the rally, he added.

Mr Atiq blamed the two major political parties of the country for his closeness with JuD.

“We have seen both the PPP and the PML-N withdrawing from their stance on the Kashmir issue. So we are left with no option but to shake hands with JuD,” he added.

The participants of the rally said the march of the Houthi rebels towards Makkah and Madina would not be tolerated by the nation.

However, it was also stated clearly that the conflict was not a war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Most of the speakers belonging to JuD decried that some elements were trying to present the Yemen issue as a Shia-Sunni conflict.

In another development, a joint statement was issued by the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), Sunni Itehad Council, Tehreek Nifaz Fiqa Jaffariya, Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen and the Shia Ulema Council on the issue of Yemen.

It said the protection of the holy sites was the responsibility of all the Muslims. “But there is no threat to the holy sites from the current conflict in Yemen and the government should play its role to end the conflict by stopping attacks on one Muslim country by another.”

The statement said Pakistan cannot afford to send forces to Yemen as the army was already preoccupied in too many fronts in the country.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2015

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