LAHORE, March 7: Banned outfit Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) chief Prof Muhammad Saeed on Sunday led a protest rally against India which urged the government to “use force if New Delhi does not come to terms on water issue.”
Prof Saeed had been put under house arrest after Mumbai attacks in 2008 which, India alleged, were conducted by militants linked with his group.
Though he was released on court orders after some time as the government failed to put forward cogent reasons for its action, he kept a low profile and did not deliver even Friday sermons at the party headquarters here.
After his release, he made his first public appearance only last month at a rally organised by his outfit under the umbrella of Tehrik Hurmat-i-Rasool to protest re-publication of blasphemous caricatures by Norwegian newspapers.
The anti-India rally of tractor-riding farmers, led by him from Nasser Bagh up to the Punjab Assembly on The Mall here on Sunday, demanded that the government keep open the option of using force if New Delhi continued with its ‘water terrorism’.
The participants were carrying banners and placards.
Speaking to them, Hafiz Saeed promised to intensify the anti-India protests by staging such rallies across the country.
He said by constructing illegal dams and diverting water of Pakistani rivers India had imposed a war on Pakistan and the government must prepare the nation to counter this aggression.
He feared that not only crops but also people would die of thirst if the Indian aggression was not checked.
Referring to Indian propaganda against him, he said his crime was that he spoke for the oppressed people of occupied Kashmir and India. “My religion demands that I should speak for Indian Muslims and other minorities subjugated by the ruling elite of India.”
Chiding the UN Security Council for showing haste in imposing sanctions on JuD, he regretted that the world body was totally silent on controversial Indian water projects in a disputed territory.
A declaration was also read out at the rally which unanimously gave its approval. The declaration said India virtually declared a war on Pakistan by unlawfully constructing dams and diverting Pakistani rivers.
It called for an end to so-called war on terror, saying it was never Pakistan’s war and the government should assemble all segments of society for standing behind Pakistan army. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/banned-outfit-chief-leads-rally-on-water-issue-830
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