LAHORE: Journalists of the Lahore Press Club took out a procession on Thursday in solidarity with the Pakistan military, saying that it had given a ‘befitting response’ to the Tuesday airstrikes by India.

The procession was led by Press Club president Arshad Ansari and was called the “Pakistan Zindabad Rally”, which began at press club and ended at Punjab Assembly.

Students, business community, political parties, government staff, and representatives of journalist unions were part of the procession. They shouted slogans against the Modi government and its aggressive moves and gave a shout-out to the military. They carried national flags and held large pictures of the army chief and the ISPR director general. They lauded the bravery and skills of the Pakistan Air Force pilots who struck down two Indian jets. Provincial Information Minister Fayyazul Hasan Chohan said the scale of representation at the event showed that the nation was all on the same page. He said that it should be remembered that Pakistan is a nuclear power and that while peace was the first option, if pushed against the wall, they would also have to respond aggressive.

The speakers said that whenever elections were around in India, such tactics of anti-Pakistan sloganeering were employed and ethnic and religions tensions arose in India.

Mr Ansari said that the success of the rally showed that all journalist unions were in agreement that nothing would affect their stance and if need be, they would also collect and stand by their government and fight against the Modi Government.

Others included Senior Vice president Press Club Zulfiqar Ali Mehto, Vice President Nasira Ateeq, Secretary Zahid Abid, Treasurer Salik Nawaz, members of governing body Imran Sheikh, Ahmed Raza, Shahid Chaudhry, Rana Tahir, Gul Nawaz and Qasim Raza; PFUJ Secretary General Rana Azeem, senior journalist members Shahzad Hussain Butt, Naeem Hanif, and others.

Also present were Okara Press Club president Hafiz Ateeq, Tanveer Shahid of Kasur Union of Journalists, Malik Tauseef from Gujranwala Union of Journalist, Rana Usman from Sheikhupura Union of Journalists and several PML-N members and student wing.

PU: Also, a rally by representatives of the Punjab University, led by PU Vice Chancellor Prof Niaz Ahmad Akhtar, was held to express solidarity with the army where teachers, officers, employees and some students were present. The rally was taken out from the College of Earth and Environmental Sciences crossing. The participants chanted slogans in support of the army and against Indian aggression.

Addressing the participants, Prof Ahmad said that the Pakistan Army was the “number one army of the world” and had full capacity to defend its borders.

He said that the timely response by the Pakistan Air Force showed “Pakistan’s supremacy over India” and the “unmatched capacity of our armed forces”.

He said that India should openly accept the offer of a dialogue and avoid conflict. He said that the nation stood united with the Army and India must restrain herself from launching such attacks. He said that peace should be ensured in the region and it must not be taken as weakness.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2019