LAHORE - Jamaat-e-Islami ex-Ameer Qazi Hussain Ahmed has warned the Army against launching an operation in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) under the US pressure, saying such a move will be disastrous for the country, and the troops, to be used for the purpose, will face the kind of situation the US is confronted with in Afghanistan for the past nine years. Delivering a speech on The future of Pak-Afghan relations at Tech Club here on Sunday, he said the government should tell the US that we cannot fight against our own people. In his assessment no amount of the US assistance would be sufficient to compensate damages the army would suffer in the Agency. He said that NWA was the territory of Jalaluddin Haqqani, who was a friend of Pakistan and a foe of the US. Fighting was like a hobby for the NWA people and anyone thinking of defeating them was underestimating their (NWA people) position. The JI leader said nobody should ever think about making Afghanistan a satellite of Pakistan, because it did not let even the Britons and the Russians stay in occupation of their country. At most, he said, Pakistan could wish to have a friendly government in Kabul. About the plan being conceived by some countries to install a favourable government in Kabul, Qazi said that such states were grossly mistaken. In his opinion the Pushtoons and the Balochs could play an important role in bringing Pakistan and Afghanistan closer to each other. He visualised a terrible situation in Afghanistan after the pullout of the foreign troops. He said there would be chaos in the war-ravaged country, and it would be better for the neighbouring states to let the Afghans have a government of their own choice. He disagreed with the approach of the Taliban who were targeting mosques and innocent people. He said bomb blasts or burning of music shops would bring no good to society. The JI leader said it was possible subversive activities being attributed to the Taliban were actually being carried out by enemy agents and the Blackwater. Answering a question, Qazi said it was the support lent by Punjab that had enabled the Awami National party to come to power in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. However, he believed that this was the last chance for the ANP and never again would it get an opportunity to rule the province. He said the ANP would not have come to power if the Jaamaat had not boycotted the previous general election held under Gen (r) Musharraf. He admitted that the apparent popularity of the Jamaat was not reflected in assemblies as in elections people supported the winnable candidates, keeping their ideological considerations on the backburner. However, he said, the JI would continue to follow the tradition of prophets and invite the electorate to the right course. He refuted the impression that his party believed in politics of protests. In response to a question, the JI leader said there was no room for private armed lashkars in an Islamic state. Such lashkars must be defeated, he said, regretting that they were the creation of various agencies. Expressing serious concern over the rampant sectarian, ethnic and other prejudices in society, he underlined the need for combating them. He regretted that ulema and seminaries students had very strong sectarian prejudices, although they were supposed to shun them.