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| India-Pakistan |
| Qazi jugged |
| 2002-04-21 |
| Pakistan police broke up the first major demonstration against General Pervez Musharraf's referendum on extending his presidency, arresting a key Islamist leader. Qazi Hussain Ahmad was placed under one-day house arrest as he left his Jamaat-i-Islami party's headquarters in the eastern city of Lahore to lead an outlawed procession of hundreds of supporters. Ahmad, whose party is considered the most organised Islamic faction in the country, was able to deliver a short speech to the 500-strong crowd before being taken away. "Our arrest is a defeat for Musharraf," he said. "I appeal to you to please disperse peacefully because we are not in confrontation with the police, our struggle is against those who have usurped power." Police earlier seized Jamaat's vice president Liaquat Baluch in an overnight raid on his Lahore home. It's only overnight. The remainder of JI's leadership has "gone underground", along with the leadership of Tehrik-i-Jafria Pakistan, which is a banned group even though they don't make much pretense of being out of business. Tehrik-i-Jafria is a Shi'ite equivalent of JI, so if he ever gets power for himself Qazi will probably kill them all. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |