“I know that India has long been demanding my custody. When the time is right, I will go to India myself,” Jamatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed said on Wednesday.
He was addressing a rally organised to mark the Independence Day and register protest against India.
JuD activists had gathered on The Mall. The rally continued for more than four hours.
Rally speakers said that India was behind many problems Pakistan faced today.
Led by Saeed, the rally was called the Takmeel-i-Pakistan Karwan.
The participants marched from Neela Gumbad to Charing Cross, carrying JuD and national flags.
They chanted slogans against India and its government, blaming them for lack of water in Pakistan’s rivers, unrest in Balochistan, violence in and Indian-held Kashmir and the recent floods.
JuD leader Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki and Sardar Sham Singh, the Singh Parbandhak Committee Pakistan chairman, were prominent among the speakers. Three Kashmiri leaders- Sayed Shabbir Shah, Asia Indrabi and Sayed Ali Gilani- delivered speeches over telephone.
Talking about the Indian-held Kashmir, Saeed said he had long wanted to celebrate the Independence Day in Srinagar.
He said India had been accusing JuD of terrorist activities the group had not committed. He said they did not have any proof against JuD. One of the recent allegations had been the killing of five Indian soldiers, he said.
He said peace in the region was impossible without the independence of Indian-held Kashmir.
“JuD is not opposed to a dialogue with India. We only say that any dialogue should be held after India stops instigating terrorism in Pakistan, releases river waters on time and withdraws Indian army from Kashmir.”
Saeed said that the people of Pakistan would not accept the status of Most Favoured Nation for India. JuD would resist all such moves, he added.
He said the JuD was also against buying electricity from India.
“India produces electricity by making dams on Pakistani rivers.”
He said India should provide Pakistan electricity free of cost.
Makki said the Indian army had been firing at the LoC to build pressure on Pakistan to hand over Hafiz Saeed to them.
He said by selling electricity to Pakistan, India wanted to make Pakistan dependent on it.
He said Pakistan was incomplete without Kashmir and that the JuD and its likeminded groups would continue to fight for its independence.
Singh said that Indian agencies were creating unrest in Balochistan. He said Pakistani agencies must not let them succeed.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 15th, 2013.