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KARACHI, July 11: Activists of religious parties at a rally here on Wednesday vowed to hold the military rulers and the government accountable for the invasion of the Lal Masjid and its adjacent seminaries as well as for the killing of a large number of innocent people at the behest of the United States.
Held at Empress Market on the first day of the three-day mourning announced by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, the rally termed July 10 ‘the darkest day’ in the history of Pakistan when the people calling for the enforcement of Sharia were mercilessly massacred by the armed forces supposed to protect them.
Addressing the rally, MMA leader and Naib Amir of the Jamaat-i-Islami Prof Ghafoor Ahmed strongly condemned the killing of the Lal Masjid’s cleric, Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, his followers and students by the army, and said the brutal action could not be condoned.
“We will not let the rulers make the nation subservient to the US,” he thundered.
The emotionally charged mourners, holding banners and placards in their hands, raised slogans against the military rulers and their act of suppressing Islamic forces.
Prof Ghafoor said that the military action in different parts of the country proved that the rulers themselves were extremists, adding that their policies and actions had put the country’s security and integrity at stake.
Questioning the justification for the military action against the Islamabad seminary, he said it had been resorted to in spite of the fact that Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi had been convinced to come to the terms offered by the government following relentless efforts put in by certain ulema and opposition figures. Minutes before the peaceful end to the stand-off, the terms were unilaterally changed at the presidency, which gave 15 minutes to the cleric and his followers to surrender, the MMA leader said, adding that the mosque and the seminary were invaded after the deadline, at around 4am.
Cover-up allegations
Prof Ghafoor accused the rulers of hiding the truth during and after the military operation, arguing that the media was denied access to the vital points close to the scene of the operation. Media people were not even allowed into hospitals and detention camps, he said, and argued that civilised nations would give media access even to the war fronts.
Dr Mairajul Huda Siddiqui warned the government against working on the agenda of doing away with religious seminaries and mosques, saying that no Muslim could tolerate imposition of curbs on worship. He said that if the rulers continued with their anti-Islam actions, they would not be able to remain in their fortified palaces in the capital for long.
Mohammad Hussain Mehanti lambasted supporters of the military action, and warned that they could not also escape the wrath of the masses.
Nasrullah Shaji said that the operation had been carried out just to appease the United States.
Hamidullah Khan, Maulana Afzal Sardar, Maulana Misbahul Alam, Maulana Abdul Rehman, Qari Zamir Akhtar and Ayesha Munawwar also addressed the rally.
