JI stages sit-in against execution of BD opposition leaders

ISLAMABAD: The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Thursday evening staged a large sit-in here at the Nadra Chowk against the executions of JI Bangladesh leaders for siding with Pakistan during the 1971 War.

Senator Sirajul Haq, the JI Central Ameer, who led the sit-in participated by thousands of Jamaat activists on a short notice, asked the government to feel its responsibility and raise the issue of execution of opposition leaders in Bangladesh. “This is a case of Pakistan and Pakistanis and not only of Jamaat as the JI leadership in Bangladesh is being victimised and put to judicial murder for their love for united Pakistan,” he said.

The JI leader said the government was indifferent to what was happening with those who struggled for Pakistan. Siraj said the attitude of the Pakistani rulers to the plight of opposition leadership in Bangladesh was painful for him and every patriotic Pakistani. “Had the rulers in Pakistan taken the issue seriously, the pressure on the Bangladesh leadership could have been increased,” he said.

Siraj said the Pakistan government should raise the issue of violation of 1974 tripartite agreement signed among Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. Carrying party flags and banners, the JI workers chanted slogans against the Hasina Wajid government in Bangladesh.

Naib Ameer Mian Muhammad Aslam, Secretary General Liaquat Baloch, Farid Ahmad Paracha, Shamsur Rehman Swati, Zubair Farooq Khan and other central leaders also addressed the participants of the sit-in. The entry points to the Constitution Avenue were closed by erecting containers as the JI leadership had announced to stage the sit-in in front of the Prime Minister’s Secretariat.However, the JI leaders agreed to change the venue to the Nadra Chowk where the peaceful sit-in continued for over six hours.