PESHAWAR/CHARSADDA, April 20: Former Jamaat-i-Islam chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad on Friday opposed the proposal of unilateral withdrawal of troops from Siachen and said if it happened, it would tantamount to accepting India occupation of the glacier.

Talking to journalists after addressing party workers in Khairabad area of Nowshera, Mr Qazi criticised Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif for suggesting Pakistani troops’ unilateral pullout from Siachen and said the suggestion was irresponsible.

He said India should take initiative and take its troops on Siachen glacier to the 1984 position and once that happened, Pakistan should withdraw forces from there.

“India committed aggression and sent its troops to Siachen. Unilateral troop pullout by Pakistan will tantamount to recognition of Indian occupation of the glacier,” he said.

The JI chief also opposed resumption of goods’ supply to Afghanistan-based Nato forces through Pakistan and said the government and the army should avoid providing ‘oxygen’ to the Indian occupation forces.

He blamed Nato forces for the killing of hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis and Afghans over the years and said his party was opposed to the reopening of Nato supply and would let it happen.

JI general secretary Liaquat Baloch, who was also in attendance, said people would block Nato supply route if the government decided to let goods for Afghanistan-based forces pass through the country. He said the US and its allies had suffered defeat in Afghanistan and were looking for safe exit.

Mr Baloch demanded immediate end to military operations in Fata and Balochistan and said the operations had worsened the situation in the two regions instead of restoring peace.

In Charsadda, JI provincial chief Professor Mohammad Ibrahim told a ‘Youth Assembly’ in the day that his party would bring about Islamic revolution in the country by organising Pakistani youth and give them proper direction to meet future challenges.

The assembly, which was organised by Shabab-i-Mili, the JI youth wing, had JI provincial vice chief Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, Shabab-i-Mili central president Attiqur Rehman, provincial president Abrar Akbar, district chief Mohammad Riaz Khan, Shabab-i-Mili district president Shabbir Ahmad, former MPA Arshad Khan and former nazim Naseer Mohammad Khan in attendance.

Professor Ibrahim said enforcement of Islamic system was the only solution to the country’s current socioeconomic and security crises. He said corrupt rulers had been imposed on the country and they had given the people prolonged power outages, high inflation, growing lawlessness and massive unemployment.

He said if elected to power, JI would give people jobs, peace and goods at affordable prices. The JI leader later awarded shields to Faiz Mohammad, Hamdullah Jan, Dr Zahoor Ahmed, Ghafirullah, Farhad Ali Rabbani, Shah Zed, Shaukat Ali, Hafeez Suhail Ahmad and Arshad Shahkar for highlighting people’s problems and trying to resolve them.

Meanwhile, around 50 noted scholars of Charsadda on Friday issued a fatwa (decree) that administration of polio vaccines to children under the age of five was not un-Islamic.

The fatwa was issued at Ulema Convention organised by National Research and Development Foundation (NRDF) to seek ulema cooperation in convincing parents about vaccination of their children. —Dawn Report