PESHAWAR, May 16: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad has apprehended that India is planning to attack Pakistan for capturing some strategic positions in Azad Kashmir.
Speaking at the Meet the Press programme of Peshawar Press Club here on Thursday, the JI chief cautioned: “Pakistan is under threat and Indian forces are fully prepared to take eventuality along the border at any time,” saying that he gave these predictions on the basis of some credible reports. He maintained that after capturing strategic points in Kashmir the Indian government would exert pressure on Pakistan to give up its stand on the occupied Kashmir.
He claimed that United States had already given its blessing to India against Pakistan, adding that joint military manoeuvrings between the US and Indian forces in Alaska and Agra and the “US-India-Israel axis” could be a part of the conspiracy to crush freedom movement in the occupied Kashmir and Palestine. He maintained that European Union was already pressing Pakistan to stop what it claimed cross-border terrorism.
In the prevailing situation, he believed, the military regime was not capable to thwart Indian military adventurism and stressed President Gen Pervez Musharraf to discharge military from its non-professional responsibilities and hold general elections under the supervision of an independent election commission. He said right from the beginning the Jamaat advised Gen Pervez Musharraf to correct its policies and send army back to the barracks.
Qazi said despite providing logistic and intelligence facilities to the US forces in its socalled war on terrorism the Musharraf government neither secured country’s economic and political interests nor restored confidence among the people. The April 30 presidential referendum further exposed the government and the entire world had termed the referendum a fake practice, he claimed. He alleged that Gen Musharraf had politicised the army, once a neutral body of the country.
He asked the government to accept demands of the All Parties Conference and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, restore Constitution and remove the chief election commissioner.
Replying to a question he said establishment had been playing role in making and breaking of governments and hatched conspiracies against political governments in the past. He, however, showed ignorance about the ISI involvement in the making IJI in 1988. About alliance with PPP and PML (N), he said that JI was part of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and could not take any decision on its own.
Answering another question, the JI chief said Pakistan should not extradite Arab militants to their respective countries and provide them political asylum. “Pakistan and other countries encouraged these people during Afghan war and it is our responsibility to provide them shelter to our Muslim brothers,” he remarked, adding that if America and other European countries could provide asylum to our citizens then why not Pakistan.