Hakimullah Mehsud is a martyr :Munawar Hasan

Lahore: Ameer, Jamaat e Islami, Pakistan, Syed Munawar Hasan, has said that Hakimullah Mehsud as a martyr,  the drone attack on the slain TTP chief was an attack on the negotiation table.He was addressing a news conference at Islamabad on Sunday.

JI ameer said Federal Interior Minister’s statement for  a review of the ties with the US on terror war had been thrown to the winds by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif saying that the NATO supplies wont’ be stopped. Syed Munawar Hasan announced all out support to the PTI Chairman Imran Khan for stopping NATO supplies. However, he said the issue required consultation with the like minded parties and a long term planning so that the supplies were stopped permanently.

Terming Hakimullah Mehsud as a martyr, the JI Ameer said the drone attack on the slain TTP chief was an attack on the negotiation table.

He stressed upon both the Pakistan government and the Taliban to go ahead with the talks and make them a success as that would be a befitting reply to the US  who is an enemy of Pakistan and a friend of India.

Syed Munawar Hasan said that the US wanted to sabotage the talks so that the Pakistani nation and its armed forces remained pitted against each other. He said the issues were never resolved through the use of force.

Referring to Federal Information Minister’s statement that drone attacks would not end with the stoppage of NAO supplies, he asked whether the Minister was representing Pakistan or the US.

To a question, the JI Ameer remarked that the government which was reluctant to stop NATO supplies through its land route, could not be expected to play any role in the UN or its Security Council.

Meanwhile, the JI Ameer has expressed his reservations over the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance, issued recently and called for a review.  In his reply to the Prime Minister’s letter in the issue, he said the Ordinance had been issued in unnecessary haste especially because when the parliament was in existence, the issue could have been discussed there and the opinion of the political parties could have been obtained.  It would have been better to consult the political parties prior to the issuance of the ordinance. As at present, he said, it would be appropriate to seek the opinion of Human Rights bodies, and the political parties so that the weaknesses of the Ordinance were thrashed out.

Syed Munawar Hasan said it was the universally accepted premise that one is innocent until proved guilty. However, he said under the PPO,  the onus for proving innocence had been put on the accused, and this was a major departure from the established legal position and was bound to have far reaching consequences, and would  turn the country into a military state.