KARACHI, Oct 17: Chief of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP), Allama Shah Ahmed Noorani, has said that US assurances to redress the Kashmir dispute have no worth as the same assurances were also given during the Gulf War, to gain Pakistan’s support.

He was addressing a seminar, “ Is Defence Of Afghanistan Necessary For the Survival Of Pakistan”, organized by the Muhajir Quami Movement (MQM), at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) here on Tuesday.

“The Pakistan government is expecting a solution of the Kashmir dispute for its extension of logistic support to the US and its ally Britain. He said that keeping in view their past attitude, all such hopes and efforts would prove fruitless.

He opined that the US-led war was not aimed at fighting terrorism, but it was against Islam. The western countries, he said, were afraid of Islam, the fastest-growing religion in the world.

“Americans are actually eying the resources of Central Asia and to achieve this goal they are using Afghanistan as a passage towards the Central Asian republics”, he said.

Chairman MQM Afaq Ahmed, speaking on the occasion, expressed resentment over the logistic support against Afghan Muslims and termed it as betrayal to the Afghans who were fighting a war to defend Pakistan.

He said the Pakistan government had no right to talk about the formation of a broad-based government in Afghanistan against the wishes of the Afghans, and added that before doing so it should give way to a broad-based government in the country.

Prof Ghafoor Ahmed, on the occasion, said that the war would ultimately affect America and its people “who are facing various mental ailments after Sept 11, but at the same time marriages, education and sports activities continue in the war-ravaged Afghanistan.

Former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice (retd) Sajjad Ali Shah, said America had no right whatsoever to declare a person terrorist without producing concrete evidence against him. He called upon the United Nations to define in clear terms what terrorism means.

“Attack on Afghanistan is an attack on Pakistan,” said Hassan Turabi, a central leader of the Tehrik-i-Jafria Pakistan (FJP).

He laid stress on forgetting all the differences and adopt a consensus stance on the question of US attacks on Afghanistan.

General secretary MQM, Amir Khan, declared that a stable Afghanistan was inevitable for the integrity and stability of Pakistan.

The seminar unanimously resolved that government should convene a”Jirga” of all the political parties to discuss the issue.— PPI