LAHORE, Jan 13: The Jamaat-i-Islami has threatened to launch a long march that will culminate at the presidency and the army headquarters in the federal capital if the ongoing operation in tribal areas is not stopped forthwith.

The threat was made at an All-Party Conference the Jamaat had arranged on the FATA situation here on Tuesday.

“The people have every right to launch the long march for making the government stop the army operation against citizens of the country in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA),” Punjab amir of the party Liaquat Baloch told the media after the conference.

He warned that participants in the long march would lay a siege to the presidency and the GHQ and would end their protest only after the operation came to an end. Announcing the APC support for the lawyers’ proposed long march on March 9, he said unlike the one undertaken last year, the exercise must be result oriented.

Without naming the PML-N, he said the opposition parties in favour of the movement for the lawyers’ independent judiciary must not keep their policy towards the government vague for making the movement a success.

The JI leader also announced holding of jirgas in Faisalabad, Multan and Lahore on Jan 26, 27 and 28, respectively, for highlighting the tribal issue. Elders of all the seven agencies in the tribal areas would attend these jirgas, he added.

Earlier, a joint declaration of the APC was also announced which condemned the ‘unconstitutional’ army operation and demanded an immediate end to it in accordance with parliament’s joint resolution.

Calling for solving the militancy issue through talks, it sought shifting of the armed forces from FATA to Indian borders, honourable return of the internally-displaced persons and compensating them for the losses, breaking off with the US in the war on terror, ending all NATO supplies, making the Political Parties Act accessible in tribal areas, and recovery of all the missing persons.

The participants included Zaeem Qadri (PML-N), Maulana Amjad Khan (JUI-F), Qari Zawwar Bahadur (JUP), Former Rear Admiral Javed Iqbal (Tehrik-i-Insaaf), Ehsan Wyne (ANP), former MNA from Bajaur Haroon Rashid, Rana Shafiq Pasruri (MJAH), Abdul Wahab Niazi (National Labour Federation), Maulana Safdar Khan (JUI-S), Engineer Saleemullah (JUP-N) and Hameeduddin Mashraqi (Khaksar Tehrik).