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Votaries of `jehad' warn Musharraf Govt.

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Aug. 9. Despite the professed commitment of the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, to stop anti-India activities, a few groups, particularly from Muzaffarabad, continue to articulate the belief that `jehad' (holy war) is the only way to ``liberate'' Kashmir.

This was evident at a school function organised in the capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir by the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, headed by the former chief of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hafeez Muhammad Saeed. The whereabouts of Prof. Saeed have become a mystery since the Pakistan Government told a Lahore court last week that it had neither arrested nor detained him.

Speakers at the function warned the Musharraf Government against provoking the group's workers by its ``attitude'' towards their leader. Some of them could not resist the temptation of reiterating that ``no power on earth'' could stop the ongoing `jehad' in Kashmir.

Those who were present at the function included the Jamaat-ud-Dawa PoK chief, Abdul Azeez Alvi, and the PoK Assembly member and Parliament secretary, Meer Ali Akbar.

Maulana Alvi told the gathering that the Jamaat's workers were trained followers of Islam and believed that rioting, strikes and vandalism were against their religion. The Government should not force them to adopt a way of violence. Its attitude towards a "great leader" (Prof. Saeed) was proof of terrorism, he alleged. And Mr. Akbar said that no power could stop the "freedom struggle" in Kashmir and that `jehad' would continue till the ``total departure'' of the Indian forces from Kashmir.

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