PESHAWAR, Dec 15: The Jamaat-i-Islami has decided to stage a sit-in outside Michni Rest House on Warsik Road, where JI chief Qazi Hussain is detained, on Eid day against the detention of the religious leaders by the dictatorial regime.
Speaking at a news conference here at the Peshawar Press Club, JI provincial chapter chief Prof Mohammad Ibrahim said his party had finalized the arrangements on the Eid day and would not allow any body to interfere in their political programme. The Jamaat and other parties would launch an anti-government movement soon after the Eid, he added.
He demanded of the government to withdraw all facilities which the latter had offered to the US government for bringing down the Taliban government in Afghanistan. “The US must pull out its all forces from Afghanistan as they have no reason to use air-bases in Pakistan and prolong their stay in Afghanistan”, he added.
The JI leader feared that Gen Pervez Musharraf might cause a great damage to the freedom movement in Kashmir. “Gen Musharraf has become a security risk for the country after the fall of the Taliban government in Pakistan”, he observed.
He said that the country was being run by a single man who was carrying out anti-Pakistan dictations by the US government.
The religious leaders, Maulana Fazalur Rehman and Qazi Hussain Ahmed had tried to convince the rulers not to become a party against the Taliban, but the latter detained them, he said.
Prof Ibrahim said: “The JI has not requested the government to release Qazi Sahib on the parole. Instead, we have been demanding his unconditional release”.
He claimed that the government was exerting pressure on courts to get specific decisions against the religious leaders. “The fate of our country lies in the hands of a free and fair judiciary, if the government makes them a subordinate section, it will harm the very existence of the country”, he added.
Prof Ibrahim advised the corps commanders to remember the fate of their previous colleagues, Gen Mehmud and Gen Usmani, who had been sent home.
Replying to a question, he said that a treason case must be registered against Pervez Musharraf for imposing dictatorship on the country rather than implicating religious leaders in fake cases. He asked the government to start the treason case, which it had fabricated against Qazi Sahib, he added.
He denied that his party had reached any secret deal with the government. “We have started mobilizing general people against the government”, he said.
Prof Ibrahim said a big public rally would be organized against the government on Jan 4 next against the dictatorial policies of the government.
He urged Gen Musharaff to step down and hand over power to an interim government which should hold free and fair elections in the country.