LAHORE, Dec 30: The Jamaat-i-Islami on Sunday accused the military government of weakening the country’s national stand on Kashmir by banning under foreign pressure the Lashkar-i-Taiba and Jaish-i-Muhammad and then failing to adhere to the oft-repeated distinction between the freedom movement and terrorism. The party’s acting chief Syed Munawwar Hasan said while talking to reporters at Mansoora that the rulers were sabotaging the Kashmir cause.
He said instead of obediently outlawing the Jehadi organizations, Gen Musharraf should have told President Bush that freedom fighters should not be equated with militants or terrorists.
He said people talking of the country but ignoring its ideology or the spirit of the freedom movement were trying to convert Pakistan into a secular state. Such people, he alleged, wanted to impose India’s hegemony in the region and resolve the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the Indian agenda. The JI leader said Pakistan should improve its relations with China and Iran in view of the gravity of the situation. Also, he said, an interim government of national consensus should be set up in the country to free the army to focus on the national defence. The proposed government, the JI leader said, should comprise such people as were capable of taking decisions in the prevailing war-like conditions. Making an obvious reference to Gen Musharraf’s role as president, Syed Munawwar said that it would not be possible for the former to fight a war while he was wearing Sherwani.
Replying to a question, the JI leader said after achieving its objectives in Afghanistan, The US would try to target the nuclear capability of Pakistan and the freedom struggle going on in occupied Kashmir. Israel and India, he said, would also support such a move.
He said in case of a war between Pakistan and India, the Islamic countries would do nothing except adopting a resolution. He was critical of the government for offering a joint investigation of the farce attack on the Indian parliament staged by the BJP-led government. He said still more humiliating was the rejection of the offer by New Delhi.
About the foreign minister’s statement that the Jehadi organizations had no role to play under the constitution, the JI leader said if so then the foreign minister should also explain to the nation under what provision of the constitution was Gen Musharraf working as president and he as foreign minister. Also, he said, the minister owed an explanation under which constitution was the country being governed for the past two years.
Answering a question, he said religious parties would play their role in the defence of the country if India tried to impose a war.