The country's most organised religious political party with strong street power Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) has announced to take part in the lawyers long march and sit in next month till reinstatement of the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in Islamabad.
JI Ameer Qazi Hussain Ahmad will lead his party in the two year old movement which has all the ingredients and potential to plunge the country in another unmanageable political crisis and social upheaval.
The decision to take part in the long march and sit in was announced by the acting Ameer JI Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam Saleemi, Deputy Secretary General Fareed Paracha and President Islamic Lawyers Movement and member steering committee of the lawyers movement Hafiz Abdur Rehman at party's Mansura Headquarters here on Sunday.
They said JI would start weeklong preparations of the long march from 21st February as "solidarity week with lawyers and judiciary" and hold more than 2,000 big meetings and corner meetings till 11th March 2009 throughout the country. The JI workers will distribute handbills, do wall chalking, hoist banners and undertake mass contact in big cities and towns to mobilise the public opinion for participation in the long march and sit in.
They said JI leaders and workers will welcome the lawyers on the long march route in Quetta, Karachi, Sukkur, Multan, Gujranwala and other cities while the JI central committee will monitor the progress of the lawyers processions and workers participation.
Chaudhry Aslam Saleemi said the JI will undertake an organised public awareness programme about the hurdles put up by the government against restoration of the 1973 constitution and the deposed judiciary and the ongoing US sponsored war against terrorism in Pakistan.
He said 1.5 million people of Swat and Fata have become refugees whereas 10,000 have been killed in this "US imposed war." "We will tell the nation that the country cannot be handed over the US and its agents in Pakistan" he contended.
Hafiz Abdur Rehman Advocate thanked the JI for its decision to take active part in the long march and sit in and said the JI's participation would be decisive for the restoration of Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
Earlier, a consultation meeting was held between JI top leaders and the lawyers' representatives to discuss the pros and cons of this extreme step. The meeting was attended by JI Naib Ameer, Hafiz Muhammad Idris, Dr Fareed Paracha, Malik Muhammad Ashraf, Deputy Secretary Generals, Azhar Iqbal Hassan, acting Ameer Punjab, Shabbir Ahmad Khan, acting Ameer NWFP, Rashid Naseem, Secretary General Sindh, Waqas Anjum Jaffery, Abdul Kabeer, Ameerul Azeem, Syed Muhammad Bilal, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, Raja Muhammad Nawaz Kiani, Dr Tariq Sherazi. The lawyers were represented by Abdur Rehman Ansari, Ghulam Nabi, Chaudhry Khalid Farooq, Ghulam Qadir Jatoi, Shaukat Ali, Arshad Mahmood, Ziauddin Ansari, Asad Manzoor Butt, and Javed Iqbal Moghal.
Among the prominent political parties Imran Khan's Tehreek Insaaf (TI) has already announced to take part in the 11th March long march and the sit in on 12th March in Islamabad before the parliament for an indefinite period to press for restoration of the deposed judges and withdrawal of the amendments made by the former president Pervez Musharraf.
Another major mainstream national political party Pakistan Muslim League (N) of Nawaz Sharif has announced to take part in the long march procession, yet it has not decided to take part in the sit in on the plea that lawyers did not consult the political parties before announcing the sit in. PML (N) is the senior coalition partner in the Punjab province.
Political observers recall that JI's previous long marches and sits in always took an ugly turn and ended quite often in dismissal or change of governments in Pakistan. PPP federal government has already taken an inflexible position on the issue and stated that Justice Abdul Hameed Doghar is the constitutional Chief Justice of Pakistan, therefore deposed justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry could not be restored whereas the overwhelming majority of the lawyers do not accept the legality and constitutionality of the 3rd November 2007 extra constitutional steps of Musharraf.