The leaders of over 40 political parties warned the government on Sunday not to re-open supply routes to Nato forces in Afghanistan, halted after a Nato cross-border air strikes, which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November last year.
The warning came at a time when after almost two-month long stand-off with the US, the government is reportedly considering to resume full spectrum of bilateral ties with the US by reopening the Nato supply route to Afghanistan. The rally was organised under the auspices of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council, which is an alliance of 40 religious and political parties, managed to gather over 20,000 people at Liaqat Bagh.
Addressing the rally, Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed said that the current clash of institutions is the result of a blunder that Pakistanis committed 10 years ago by allowing its territory to be used against Afghan Muslims.
This is the time Pakistan must review its foreign policy, he said, adding that until we repent for that grave mistake, we will never be able to overcome these issues, confronting the country.
Saeed, whose organisation is banned by the United Nations but continues to operate as a charity in Pakistan , went on saying that closing Nato supply routes is not enough and Pakistan must re-evaluate its entire defence policy.
He said he had told Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani that he would ask him a question during the Rawalpindi rally. The question, he said, is when will his government is going to announce the date that when Pakistan will shut its ties with US. "We have become really fed of this so-called war on terrorism. This is America 's war and we are not here to fight for Americans...our job is to fight Pakistan 's war, not the Americans", he added.
Saeed, whose JuD is believed to be linked with anti-India militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, said that India is a greater threat to Pakistan than the US. The current government is conspiring with the US to give in to Indian supremacy [in the region], he said, adding that granting Most Favoured Nations (MFN) status to India, is part of that plan, which we must practically oppose.
He said that the Difa-i-Pakistan Council is working to agglomerate all political and religious parties to fight these conspiracies and tackle the difficulties that Pakistan is embroiled in.
Syed Munawwar Hasan of JI said the economic crisis and law and order situation in the country had deteriorated since Pakistan jumped into the so-called war on terror. Pakistan 's problems cannot be resolved unless, he added, it comes out of this war, which is meant to serve the interests of America . The JI leader said that US is an open enemy of Pakistan but the Pakistani rulers were still pursing pro-US policies. If the rulers did not abandon the pro- US policies and the armed forces did not discharge their duty for the country's defence, it would be too late, he added.
The JI chief said that the US wanted to punish this country for its defeat in Afghanistan . He said that the nation stood behind its armed forces and would fight shoulder to shoulder with its soldiers in case of any aggression.
He said that the nation had lost confidence in the rulers who were blindly toeing the Washington line and had also failed to implement the resolutions of the parliament and the APCs. The rally was also attended by Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami chief Maulana Samiul Haq, former Inter-Services Intelligence chief Hamid Gul and Ahmed Ludhianvi, Pakistan Muslim League-Zia's Ijazul Haq and former Army Chief General Mirza Aslam Baig (retd).