Peace is impossible in presence of MQM:Syed Munawar Hassan

Lahore: A countrywide protest was held on Thursday against the increasing target killing in Karachi on the appeal of the Ameer, Jamaat e Islami, Pakistan, Syed Munawar Hasan. Protest rallies were held in different cities including Karachi, Lahore,
Peshawar, Multan, Hyderabad, Faisalabad. The local JI leaders led the rallies. The JI Ameer had given a call for strike especially on the brutal murder of JI worker Dr Pervez Mehmud and a citizen Abdul Wahid by police firing. The Karachi rally was led by the JI Sindh chief Asadullah Bhutto and JI Karachi chief, Muhammad Husain Mehnati. In the Punjab capital, the rally was staged at the Multan Road which was addressed by JI Lahore chief, Amirul Azeem.

Addressing a press conference at Mansoora, Syed Munawar Hasan, said that the situation in Karachi was being deteriorated under a well thought out plan. He termed the murder of Dr Pervez Mehmud and Abdul Wahid as worst form of terrorism.

He said that peace could not return to Karachi as long as the MQM remained a part of the government. He thanked the people of Karachi, the traders and the political and religious parties for making the strike successful. He said that the people of the port city were creating unity in order to free themselves from the grip of the extortionists and the target killers, and the fascism of the MQM could not last long.

The JI Ameer said the government had tried to sabotage today’s strike by staging violent demonstrations. The houses of the JI workers were raided last night and hundreds of JI workers were held. Even the JI Karachi chief, Muhammad Husain Mehnati was placed in house arrest.

He said the government should have taken note of the crippling law and order in Karachi during the last three days and adequate measures should have been adopted to protect the life and property of the people. He said a garments factory was gutted in the port city a fee days back for which the people were raising fingers on the MQM ministers. He said three hundred people had lost their lives in the factory fire and about forty others were still missing. He said President Zardari should have personally visited the site and bereaved families to express his sympathize with them.

Syed Munawar Hasan also stressed upon President Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to understand the nations sentiments in regard to the blasphemous film and lead the protest demonstrations in order to represent the masses.

He rejected the West’s plea that no action could be taken against the blasphemer on the ground of freedom of expression and pointed out the US and the western countries had framed laws to give protect the Zionist claim about holocaust and scores of writers and intellectuals questioning holocaust had been tried and sentenced to death. Therefore, there was no reason why people were allowed to threaten world peace by indulging in blasphemy.

He said as long the US did not take punitive action against Terry Jones and the Zionist who had made the anti Islam film, the world would be justified to hold the view that Washington itself was behind the mischief.

Syed Munawar Hasan also condemned the bomb blast in Peshawar and expressed sympathies with the bereaved families. He said that the bomb blasts were a routine in the Khyber P and the ANP government had completely failed to protect the life and property of the people.