{EOP}‘Free Kashmir or be prepared for Ghazwa-e-Hind’

LAHORE – Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) Chief Haifz Muhammad Saeed on Saturday warned India to “quit” Jammu and Kashmir or be prepared for a “war” as the group organised massive protests at several cities in Pakistan to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day.

Addressing a rally of about 20,000 supporters on the Mall, one of the main thoroughfares of Lahore, Saeed said in a belligerent tone: “I want to give a message to (Indian Prime Minister) Manmohan Singh – quit Kashmir or get ready to face a war.”

“If freedom is not given to the Kashmiris, then we will occupy the whole of India including Kashmir. We will launch Ghazwa-e-Hind (the battle for India). Our homework is complete to get Kashmir,” he thundered.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Pakistan observed Kashmiri solidarity day to back the Kashmiri cause, to express harmony with Muslim Kashmiris fighting Indian rule in the valley.

The solidarity day, had been introduced as a holiday in the 1990s as a show of sympathy for the Muslim insurgents who have been battling security forces in Indian Kashmir with Pakistani support since 1989.

One-minute silence was observed at to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir. Sirens were blared and traffic also remained suspended for one minute. Marches and rallies were held countrywide.

Hundreds of thousands of people marched in rally taken out by a banned outfit Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) in the eastern city of Lahore. Supporters of Jamat-e-Islami, Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam and other political, social and rights groups also took out rallies.

A huge rally was held in the capital Islamabad.

More than one thousand people marched through the main street of Karachi at a rally organised by Jamat-e-Islami, a major Islamic party in the country.

The demonstrators set alight Indian flag at the rally. The charged demonstrators also beat and effigy of Indian Prime minister Manmohan Singh, with sticks.

In a message on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day, President Asif Ali Zardari reiterated the pledge to Kashmiris that they will have full moral, diplomatic and political support of the Pakistani government in their just struggle for right to self-determination.
Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, terming the Jammu and Kashmir dispute as at the centre of tensions in South Asia, urged India for a “meaningful” dialogue to resolve the issue.

The Azad Kashmir (Pakistan held Kashmir) Legislative Assembly and Kashmir Council, in a joint sitting on Saturday, expressed complete solidarity with the masses of Indian occupied Kashmir and resolved to carry on the freedom struggle.
With inputs from PTI