- ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's right-wing Islamic Party, the Jamat-e-Islami, Sunday staged a sit-in rally against the presence of US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Jamat chief Syed Munnawar Hasan told a fairly large public meeting, attended by over 10,000 people, "We oppose the 'New World Order.' This order is meant to divide and harm Muslim countries."
He also said that the party opposes the ongoing military operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan. These operations do not eliminate terrorism, but instead have increased incidents of terrorism.
Hasan said the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have not ended the scourge of terror, but is the root cause of militancy and terrorism in Muslim countries.
He said the Jamat-e-Islami would launch a countrywide movement against these military operations because these operations have entailed drone attacks inside Pakistan, harmed Pakistan's sovereignty and as a result Pakistan are imposed with corrupt and incompetent rulers.
He said after these military operations were launched the rule of law too was violated. "Many innocent citizens have gone missing," he said.
Hasan said his party was also opposed to the Reformed General Sales Tax. "If Mian Nawaz Sharif wants to oppose the RGST then his party-led government in Punjab can easily reject it in the Punjab Assembly."
Qazi Hussain Ahmad, former head of the Jamat-e-Islami, in his speech said terrorism was a direct byproduct of US aggressions against Iraq and Afghanistan.
He said, "We will oppose further military operations inside Pakistan. There is no question of a military operation in North Waziristan."
He said peaceful negotiations was the only way out to resolve issues relating to Afghanistan.
The meeting was also addressed by Dr. Afia's sister Dr. Fauzia and provincial heads of the Jamat-e-Islami.
A four-page declaration was issued at the end of the daylong sit-in Sunday demanding end of target killing in Karachi and Baluchistan, freedom for Dr. Afia Siddiqui, end of military operations in Pakistan's tribal agencies, solidarity with the people of Kashmir and Palestine, and stemming attempts to erode the base of Pakistan - that is Islam, end of unprecedented corruption by coalition governments at federal and provincial levels, urgent provision of relief assistance to flood-affected people, establishment of rule of law in Pakistan, urgent recovery of 'missing persons', introduction of pro-people economic policies, removal of corrupt rulers and restitution of Pakistan's independence, sovereignty and an immediate end to drone attacks in Pakistan.
The secretary-general of the Jamat, Liaquat Baloch, initially led a caravan of thousands of dedicated activists to the front of the Parliament building chanting slogans.

