New Pakistan: Banned Groups Reopening Offices

Just the other night on TV I saw our do nothing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice trying to spin that everything was just fine with former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf stepping down. Now just days later some Islamic groups that were banned by him and his regime, have been allowed to reopen their offices. Rice was stating that the new government will be democratically elected. So if they vote in Bin Laden to be the next President, are we supposed to say, "that's cool they did it through the democratic system"? Well Condi the only thing Muslims have done with democracy is smack us in the face with it. We need to see the Islamic world for what it is, the enemy of our freedoms. Nuclear armed Pakistan is nightmare waiting to happen no matter how Condi tries to spin it.




Banned outfits rear their heads in Karachi post-resignation

* Organisations include Lashkar-e-Taiba, Sippah-e-Sahaba, Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Jaish-e-Mohammad

By Fareed Farooqui

KARACHI: Some religious parties that were banned during the tenure of former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf have become active against by reopening their offices in Karachi, Daily Times has learnt.

According to sources, the banned jihadi organization, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LT), which was renamed Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JD), had an office at Salman Terrace, Gulshan-e-Iqbal near the National Stadium but it was closed after the government banned the LT. However, the LT has opened a temporary office at the Jamia Darasat al-Islamia, opposite Safari Park in Gulshan-e-Iqbal and after Musharraf’s resignation, the office at Salman Terrace has also been reopened.

The banned jihadi organization, Jaish-e-Muhammad (JM), also reopened its office in Manghopir on Wednesday. Before it was banned, the JM had its office in Nazimabad and that office remains closed.

The Sippah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), now known as Ahle Sunnat-wa al-Jamaat Pakistan (ASWJP), had its Karachi headquarters at Masjid Siddique-e-Akbar near Nagan Chowrangi, North Karachi and after the ban it stayed active from the same area. Although, the office had remained closed, ASWJP leaders have been conducting meetings from this office for the past two days.

The central leader of the SSP, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Nadeem, told Daily Times on Wednesday that the ban on all religious parties, including the SSP, was a part of the “American” agenda. “The ban created hatred and anger amongst our supporters, as the SSP is patriotic and its leaders were chosen by the people to be members of parliament,” said Nadeem.

He said that the ban on the SSP had been challenged in court and the case was in progress. “The government should learn from Musharraf’s mistakes and his policies should be discontinued at once and the ban on political and religious parties should be lifted,” he said.

Replying to a question, Nadeem said that Musharraf should not be provided a safe exit, as he was responsible for the killings of thousands of innocent Muslims. “He is a national offender and only the nation can forgive him. If the government lets him go without facing trial, it will be considered as an accomplice of the former president,” he said.

The SSP also organized a program, ‘Youm-e-Dua Basilsila Istehkam-e-Pakistan’, on Independence Day, Aug 14 at Masjid Siddique-e-Akbar near Nagan Chowrangi after Zuhr prayers to pay homage to the martyrs of the ‘Pakistan Movement’. Ghafoor demanded that the government should announce Shariat law in the country on ‘Independence Day’, as that was the prime objective of the creation of Pakistan.

Earlier, in June an estimated 8,000 men, mostly young ones, gathered at Qayumabad for a ‘Jansaran-e-Muhammad Conference’ organized by the SSP at B-Area Korangi Road in Qayumabad.

A rally started from Qayumabad and ended at the main Korangi road before the participants sat down. The arrangements for the conference were made on the main road and all the link roads and main streets were blocked off with tents. There was frisking at the three main entrances and SSP activists were seen on the rooftops. SSP workers with weapons were also seen at different spots. The stage was built with three trucks at the centre of the road and two police mobiles were seen to the side.



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