 |
| Photo: Nefer Sehgal / Express Tribune |
Source/Credit: Ahmadiyya Times | Various
By Imran Jattala | May 22, 1011
Far away from drone attack zones in AfPak tribal areas, Imran Khan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief, has staged a two-day sit-in in Karachi against the US and its drone attacks.
The sit-in offered a symbolic road-block of NATO / US supply line to Pakistan's northern areas and to Afghanistan.
Khan was joined at the Neti Jeti bridge near Karachi port on Saturday by several thousand protesters, predominately seminary students, provided by religious madrassas such as Jamia Binoria Al Almia in Karachi.
Members of the banned terrorist groups including Lashkar-eTayyaba (LeT), Jama’t-ud-Dawaa (JuD) and protesters chanting in favor of convicted terrorist Aafia Siddique also participated in the sit-in with Khan and PTI members.
Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani national was convicted and sentenced to 86 years for attempting to murder U.S. nationals in Afghanistan and other crimes by the Manhattan Federal Court.
Khan has heavily capitalized on the Anti-US sentiment in Pakistan in the aftermath of Bin Laden killing in garrison town of Abbottabad a few weeks ago.
Some two-third Pakistanis have disapproved of the US unilateral attack on Abbottabad compound and killing of Osama bin Laden in a recent Gallop poll. According the same poll, only 10-percent of the Pakistanis approved the bin Laden action, but on the flip-side, an overwhelming 93-percent Americans approved the actions in an earlier poll by the same organization.
PTI chairman on Friday visited Sunni Tehreek (ST) headquarters and Jamia Binoria Al Almia, seeking their support for his two-day sit-in. The ST leaders and the Binoria Cleric Mufti Naeem assured Khan of joining his protest against the US.
Other protesters, including lawyers, students and women with various religious party affiliations also gathered, holding flags and placards of their respective religious parties.
The protesters chanted slogans against the US for its drone strikes against Taliban and other terrorist groups operating in Pakistan’s tribal zones near Afghan border.
Khan and several other religious party leaders in Pakistan hold that the US drone strikes in tribal areas near AfPak borders indiscriminately kill Pakistani civilians, the innocents and terrorists alike and violate Pakistan’s sovereignty.
The US has reluctantly admitted to the stray attacks on civilians and accepted responsibility for civilian death in the past.
Strict security coverage has been provided by the Sindh government to avert any incident of violence. Police and the Rangers has been heavily deployed around the venue and the adjacent roads have been blocked to automobile traffic.
-- Follow Imran Jattala on Twitter: twitter.com/ijattala
-- Ahmadiyya Times
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.