[Dawn] IT was an extraordinary spectacle in Minto Park at the foot of the Minar-i-Pakistain on Sunday: jihadists, sectarian warriors, orthodox mullahs, Islamic revivalists, all banding together under the banner of the Difaa-i-Pakistain Council (Pakistain Defence Council) and vowing to 'defend' Pakistain against external aggression.
| Aren't they all pretty much the same anyhow, getting together every Wednesday down at the pub for a game or several of darts? |
Headlined by Hafiz Saeed, leader of the Jamaatud Dawa, widely perceived as a front for the banned Lashkar-i-Taiba, Sunday's event was a massive show of right-wing strength and has come in the wake of a heightened public profile by the JuD in recent months.
Was the PDC rally, then, meant to signify the entry of Hafiz Saeed into national politics, though perhaps not of the electoral variety? |