LAHORE - Though there is a larger proposal available to help Saudi Arabia in the light of the Parliament’s resolution, certain religious parties are making bids to bypass the “people’s resolve” by urging the government to send Pak troops to the Kingdom to deal with the Yemen issue.
The efforts of some religious parties for sending troops to KSA are not understandable as the Yemen resolution guarantees defence of territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the holy places if a real threat arises.
Drawing similarities between the Afghan and Yemen conflicts by these religious leaders for dealing with the strong possibilities of a larger Shia-Sunni conflict in case the Pak troops are sent to the Kingdom to defend its both inner and outer cordons is also not understandable.
The leaders of some of these religious forces are also part of the upper house (the Senate) and the lower house (the National Assembly) which unanimously passed the Yemen resolution. Rejecting the democratic decision despite being part of democracy poses a serious question mark about their faith in democracy under which they are enjoying several perks and privileges.
They should either resign to express no-confidence in the democratic system of which they are also a part or follow the people’s resolve regarding Saudi-Yemen crisis if they have faith in democracy. They should not act as warlords if they claim themselves as democrats.
As far as the matter of defending the holy lands in KSA is concerned, the Muslims living across the globe are ready to sacrifice their lives and it is not the sole duty of certain groups or parties to defend these places.
The armed forces which strongly believe in the principles of “Eemaan, Taqwa and Jihad” need no lesson from these religious parties to fight a holy war. Though the armed forces are already over-stretched for accomplishing tasks within the country’s frontiers and facing the enemy on the borders, they can certainly play their part when the need arises to defend the holy places as well as the cities of the Kingdom.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, addressing the Difa-e-Haramain Conference on April 11, said Pakistan should support Saudi Arabia unconditionally without viewing the Middle East conflict in the perspective of Shia-Sunni differences. Fazl said, “When the US forces attacked Afghanistan and took action against Taliban and Al Qaeda, nobody said that Sunnis are being targeted.”
He questioned why supporting Saudi Arabia was being seen as an action against Shias, and if it was true, why Iran was supporting Houthis in Yemen.
The moot called upon the Pakistan government to announce categorical support to Saudi Arabia and send its troops and weapons to the brotherly country.
Jamiat Ahle Hadith (JAH) chief Senator Professor Sajid Mir, addressing the moot, demanded Pakistan openly become a party to Saudi-Yemen conflict and fully support the friendly country.
He said international conspiracies were being hatched to target Saudi Arabia, so Pakistani troops should be sent for its defence.
Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed said the resolution passed by the joint sitting of the Parliament was not the voice of the Pakistani nation, urging the government to stand by Saudi Arabia, become party to the conflict and openly support the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, JuD announced on April 14 to hold Tahaffuz-e-Haramain Sharifain conferences across the country, starting from Gujranwala on Wednesday (yesterday) and holding the second one today (Thursday) in Lahore. He also announced holding countrywide protests tomorrow (Friday) for expressing solidarity with Saudi Arabia.
Hafiz Saeed demanded the prime minister declare Riyadh a strategic partner of Islamabad to end all confusions and provide every support to the Muslim country.
Ironically, he urged the “Muslim countries” to unite against the threat being posed to Saudi Arabia and claimed any such aggression would amount to attack the belief of the Muslim Ummah.
Other brief developments related to Pakistan’s role say: “Though the country’s security establishment acts upon the government’s directions regarding supporting KSA, it desires that an immediate diplomatic offensive should be launched to deal with the Saudi-Yemen crisis before sending troops to Saudi Arabia as, according to their assessment, there is no “clear and impending danger” to the Kingdom.
The members of the security establishment say that sending troops to Saudi Arabia to deal with a threat, according to the perception of the Arab friendly country, is likely to prove counterproductive, so the state should employ immediate diplomatic maneuvres at the earliest.
They are of the assessment that the possible and real threat that could emerge from the Saudi-Yemen crisis, if this serious issue is mishandled, is sectarian warfare that could engulf Middle Eastern nations with their friends in the South Asian region.
They say Pakistan’s troops would protect the inner cordon which includes the holy places and cities of the Kingdom if a situation arises for their assistance, while the outer cordon (borders) should be their own responsibility.
They also suggest troops from different Muslim nations under the UN umbrella to deal with the conflict militarily, if not resolved through dialogue. This proposal, if put into action, would involve all the Muslim states and prevent it from becoming a “possible sectarian conflict”.