Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Amir, Syed Munawwar Hasan has predicted armed struggle against United States in the days to come. Speaking at a ‘Go-America-Go’ rally on The Mall [in Lahore] on Sunday, he asked JI activists: ‘Announcement for the big jihad may be made during the coming days, so make preparations about it.’ Referring to the failure of armed forces in operation against their own people in former East Pakistan, he urged the authorities to desist from taking up arms against their own people. Chiding the government claim that it was establishing its writ, he asked where was the so-called writ when scores of citizens were shot dead in Karachi on May 12, 2007 or when hundreds of citizens were kidnapped by the American agencies?
Alleging that India was involved in the Lahore attacks and in Balochistan uprising, the JI amir demanded the government activate its foreign missions to expose New Delhi.He said either the United States itself was massacring Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan or was patronising other powers — Israel and India — engaged in anti-Muslim actions. He said the United States had always tried to destabilise Pakistan and make India a mini-superpower of the region. He said it was for this reason that Washington was pressing Islamabad to withdraw its forces from the Indian border.
Despite being the first public event of the new JI amir, attendance at the rally was not impressive though it was not restricted to Lahore-based workers only and activists from nearby districts had also been transported to the show. The party leadership had claimed that the strength of the rally would run into hundreds of thousands to give a strong message to the United States and Pakistani government that the masses were against the army operation alleged to be launched at the behest of Washington. The rally also lacked spirit, enthusiasm and zeal, which has usually been the hallmark of the events organised by religious parties.
