Thousands Gather for Difa-e-Pakistan Karachi Rally
KARACHI: Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC)’s Karachi rally, being organised with the support of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), began today (Sunday) at the Quaid’s mausoleum where several religious and political leaders are due to give their speeches, reported Express News.
JI chief Munnawar Hassan, Maulana Samiul Haq, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Hameed Gul, former federal minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, Chief of Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ) Ahmed Ludhianvi, late General Ziaul Haq’s son Ejazul Haq, among many others, will address the rally.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) senior vice-president Ejaz Chaudhry was also seen at the rally.
The security cordon around the stage was broken when ASWJ workers stormed the ground when Karachi leader Orangzaib Farooqi took the mic to address the rally.
Regional leaders of the parties have been making speeches since the morning. The afternoon and the evening will be dominated by the central leaders of the parties.
The speeches so far have touched on themes central to DPC, which are against reopening the Nato supply routes and ending American tyranny to live with honour. Speakers have also talked about India’s role in Kashmir.
Around 10,000 chairs have been set up, while several CCTV cameras have been installed to ensure security at the rally. Around 2,500 police personnel and 3,500 Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) volunteers are also on duty.
The roads leading to the venue were packed with Jamaatud Dawa and ASWJ supporters. Flags of all parties that are part of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council have been put up at the venue.
Difa-e-Pakistan Council is a coalition of over 40 religious and political parties that has been vocally demanding the government to keep Nato supply routes closed and withdraw its decision to grant India the status of most-favoured nation.
The DPC has also been promoting the rally online through a newly launched website and the microblogging website Twitter (@Difaepak).
The first DPC rally was in Lahore which was organised by Jamatud Dawa (JuD), whose leadership is in charge of coordination and communication between all members of the group.
Calling for the Nato supply routes to stay closed, the DPC has several times, in their past rallies, threatened to besiege the parliament in case the government decides to reopen the routes.
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“Khuda Nazr-e-bad say Bachaey”
A glimmer of hope for Pakistan,where Pakistan is surrounded with all sorts of sugar coated conspiracies which a common ignorant Pakistani does not have any clue of.
May Allah give courage vision and wisdom to the leaders of this organisation to accomplish their mission.
Pakistan Lease Gilgit-Baltistan to China……………
“Pak considering proposal to lease Gilgit-Baltistan to China”, set against at the backdrop of the hearings by the US Congress’s Foreign Affairs committee on the situation in Balochistan. This could be the part of larger strategic concerns/suspicions of both Pakistan and US have on each other.
Seeking to fortify its strategic ties with China amid strains in relations with US, Pakistan is considering a proposal to lease the disputed Gilgit-Baltistan region to Beijing for 50 years, an eminent US-based think tank has claimed, citing local media.
The Pakistani move is aimed at cementing its all-weather relations with China amid the irreparable rupture in US-Pak ties over the past year, said Middle East Media Research Institute in a report released on Friday, which was based on news reports in this regard in Urdu daily ‘Roznama Bang-e-Sahar’.
A report, titled ‘Pakistan’s Deteriorating Situation, Strained Relations with America: Deliberation on Leasing Gilgit Baltistan to China for 50 years’ in Urdu daily had said: “In the backdrop of the deteriorating situation in Pakistan and strained relations with America, deliberations have begun (on a proposal) to hand over Gilgit-Baltistan to China on a 50-year lease”.
The decision to launch the Pakistan-China Strategic Programme for Gilgit-Baltistan was probably taken during army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s visit to China in January 2012, it said.
“A Chinese think tank has also given the green light for this move,” said the Urdu daily, which was distributed in Gilgit Baltistan on December 13, 2011, less than three weeks after the November 26, 2011 NATO raid on a Pakistani border post that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, according to the US think tank, which is headed by a former FBI official.
The Urdu daily said the think tanks of China and Pakistan have begun discussions to hand over Gilgit-Baltistan region to the control of China on lease. “In the first stage of this plan, China will formulate a strategy for development projects and in the name of working on them will gradually take over the control of this region. In the next stage, China will take over Gilgit-Baltistan under its total control for 50 years and deploy its troops there,” it said.
The Pak-China Strategic Programme for Gilgit-Baltistan will come into force in June 2012, the think tank said quoting Pakistani source.
Recently, Indian army chief Gen V K Singh had said in New Delhi that around 4,000 Chinese, including the troops of the People’s Liberation Army, were in PoK. Concerned over the Chinese troop presence in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, The matter was raised by visiting External Affairs Minister S M Krishna during his talks with the Chinese top leaders few days ago.