Govt warned against sending army to Yemen

LAHORE
Speakers at an All Parties Conference warned the government against sending the Pakistan army to the aid of a Saudi-led Arab coalition against Yemen rebels, saying it would not only badly affect the ongoing war against terrorism in the country but also strain relations with Iran and Afghanistan.
Addressing the APC called by Tanzim Ittehad Ummat (TIU), they said the country had been suffering from joining the US war in Afghanistan and it was time we refrained from using the Pakistan army as mercenaries by jumping into others’ wars. The speakers demanded that Pakistan must not join the Yemen war in any way and asserted that Houthi tribes were not rebels as their representatives were members of Parliament. They stressed that the Houthis posed no threat to the Harmain Sharifain.
The joint communiqué at the APC, read out by TIU president Ziaul Haq Naqshbandi, said the Houthi rebellion did not seem to pose any threat to the Muslim holy places in Saudi Arabia, and added that if there was a real threat to the Harmain Sharifain then the entire Pakistani nation would defend the Holy Makkah and Madina which were centres of love and affection for all Muslims. They also demanded Riyadh and Tehran to stop their proxy war in Muslim countries and resolve their disputes to prevent the Muslim world from becoming a victim of western conspiracies.
Local leaders of PML-N, PPP, PML-Q, AML, MWM, PAT, Minhajul Quran, JUP, Sunni Tehreek, Ahle Sunnat parties, and civil society attended the conference. JUI-S leader Maulana Asim Makhdoom and Jamia Ashrafia spokesman Maulana Mujibur Rehman Inqiliabi, differed from the otherwise majority view on not sending the army, and demanded the army should be sent to assist the coalition. They also differed from the joint communiqué by condemning the Houthi rebels for overthrowing a legitimate government with foreign assistance, and said those supplying arms, money and secret military assistance to Houthi rebels were also culprits in the Yemen conflict.
The joint communique warned the Yemen crisis was a trap to start a war in the Muslim world to boost the sale of US arms and take control of Muslim oil resources. It said the real danger for Pakistan was that the Yemen war could spur strife in the country which would multiply the existing security threats the country had been facing by joining the US war in Afghanistan. It demanded the government to maintain a balance in relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and instead of taking sides, it should mediate among Arab countries to resolve the conflict so that Arab armies could join hands to liberate Palestine.
It said Pakistan should confine itself to protecting the holy places and not participate in Saudi Arabia’s armed conflict against any other country, adding that the message should be clearly conveyed to Riyadh. The declaration demanded that a diplomatic mission of top Muslim countries like Pakistan, Turkey etc, should be constituted to resolve the tension among the Arab countries and Iran, and for that purpose cooperation from Russia and China should also be sought.
The conference decided to observe April 10 as ‘protection of honour of Harmain Sharifain’ day, to send the declaration to Muslim rulers, diplomats, the president, the prime minister and parliamentarians along with a special letter. It also decided to launch a ‘Unity of Ummah’ campaign to counter increasing sectarianism in the Muslim world and signatures of thousands of people would be obtained on an ‘Anti-war declaration’. Besides, several conferences would be held to counter terrorism and sectarianism.
The APC also passed resolutions demanding a Muslim summit conference to resolve disputes between Muslim countries, a proactive role of OIC in the Saudi-Iran dispute, halting of Saudi invasions in Yemen and Pakistan should play the role of a mediator instead of becoming a party to the conflict.
It was addressed by Dr Raghib Naeemi, Allama Ahmad Ali Kasuri, Justice retd Nazir Ghazi, Dr Saeed Elahi, Mufti Abdul Qawi, Diwan Mohiuddin, Rana Khalid Qadri, Jamshed Iqbal Cheema, Tamkeen Aftab, Mian Jalil Sharaqpuri, Allama Niaz Naqvi, Iqbal Kamrani, Pir Masoom Hussain Naqvi, Shahid Gardezi, Mufti Haseeb Qadri and others.
Ahmad Ali Kasuri said a majority of Muslim rulers, intellectuals and journalists were agents of the archenemy of Islam, the USA.