DERA ISMAIL KHAN, March 19: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said that religious parties have always been the target of anti-Islam forces.

“What happened in Afghanistan is the continuation of the same conspiracy, but our rulers betrayed the nation and the Ummah by siding with the infidels,” he told a press conference on Monday.

The maulana said that protest demonstrations and processions held against the US hegemonistic policies in Europe, Africa, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries had vindicated the stance taken by the religious parties in Pakistan.

To a question, he said the JUI would participate in October elections with full preparations.

He criticized the government for the arrest of Ulema and workers in the wake of demonstrations staged against the American attack on Afghanistan, saying the crackdown was aimed at pleasing the US president.

He said there was no truth in the claim that Pakistan’s economy had flourished as a result of becoming part the international coalition against terrorism.