KARACHI – Leaders of politico-religious parties on Wednesday condemned the restoration of the NATO supply lines, terming it a conspiracy against the sovereignty of the country.
Flaying the reopening, Jamaat-e-Islami Sindh chief Asadullah Bhuttto branded it as a success of the US and defeat of Pakistan. “The government has violated the unanimous resolution of the Parliament and misinterpreted the facts to mislead the nation,” he said while adding that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in her apology, also blamed Pakistan for the Salala outpost attack.
He said the government had also accepted the US stance on transit fee, saying the country would incur losses of billions of dollars on exempting the NATO supplies from transit fee.
Bhutto demanded the government to immediately withdraw its decision.
JUI-S Sindh chief Maulana Asad Thanvi asserted that the reopening of the supply lines was an abject surrender to the US pressure, saying the nation would not tolerate NATO forces aggression and killing of the Afghans. He was of the view that the resumption of NATO supplies would strengthen the hold of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
“The manner in which the announcement about the reopening has been made is also highly objectionable,” he said, adding that the unanimous resolution of the Parliament had been bluntly violated. Majlis-e-Wehdat Muslameen leader Maulana Ameen Shaheedi said the rulers had disgraced the entire nation by reopening the supply lines into Afghanistan.
He rejected that the US apology over the Salala incident was an alternate to the brazen attack inside Pakistani soil. He also observed that the US was ignoring Pakistan’s requests for halting the drone operation. “Drone attacks, which have increased three times during Obama’s regime, are violation of our sovereignty and represent a war against Pakistan,” he said, and recalled that after the Salala incident, 22 drone attacks were carried out by the US.
He asserted that the government had once again showed that it did not care for the national interests, and warned that drone attacks and opening of the supply routes were totally unacceptable to the Pakistani people. “They have the right to resist such violations by all democratic means.”
Pasban chief Altaf Shakoor said the restoration of the supply lines was the decision of a weak government, adding that it did not represent the sentiments of the people.
He alleged that the government had violated the Constitution, Rules of Business and the resolution of the Parliament by restoring the supply routes.