ISLAMABAD: The Difa-i-Pakistan Council (DPC), an umbrella coalition of primarily jihadi groups which had been dormant for several years, huddled at a local hotel with a one-point agenda — deliberations on how to pre-empt ‘conspiracies’ allegedly hatched by politicians to hurt the ‘national interest’.

The DPC was established in 2011 in reaction to the killings of Pakistani soldiers by the US forces at the Pak-Afghan border. It, however, remained inactive after the murder of its founder Maulana Samiul Haq in 2018.

During the “emergency meeting”, without naming any particular political party, the outfit talked about a “conspiracy by politicians to bring chaos and anarchy” in the country allegedly at the behest of the global powers.

Saturday’s meeting was not attended by senior leaders of Jamaatud Dawa and the Jamaat-i-Islami.

Forum blames politicians for prevalent woes, claims nation ‘being sacrificed’ for personal political gain

Addressing the meeting, DPC Chairman Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqqani said that the “global forces were conspiring to weaken Pakistan”.

“Pakistan is a nuclear power so the enemy is spreading propaganda against us…they know that this nation cannot be defeated through the use of force,” said the son of late DPC chief Samiul Haq.

The DPC chairman claimed that the “enemy forces wanted to carry out suicide attacks at mosques and Imambargahs” to create discord in the country. Without naming India or any other country, Mr Haqqani claimed that “enemies hiding in Afghanistan” wanted to launch attacks into Pakistan from Afghan soil.

‘No tolerance for chaos’

The speeches made by the delegates were heavily critical of politicians and particularly criticised the PTI as well its leader Imran Khan, albeit without naming them. The state-run PTV also aired the meeting, including the speech of banned outfit Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat head Ahmed Ludhianvi.

Mr Ludhianvi said political matters should be decided in parliament instead of the streets. “We will not tolerate any chaos….” In an allusion to remarks made by former US envoy Zalmi Khalilzad purportedly in favour of former premier Imran Khan, Mr Ludhianvi said that “foreign agents were interfering” in the internal affairs of Pakistan. “Time has come to take care of it immediately,” he said without elaborating.

The speakers said that the defence of a country and its economy go hand in hand. They said that the economy has been in a state of constant decline for the past few years, but despite all the negative economic indicators, the country was still stable.

Most of the speakers blamed the political class for the prevalent ills and said that politicians were allegedly “busy in achieving their political benefits” at the expense of poor economic situation, injustice, and terrorism. They also blamed the politicians for compromising the integrity of the country.

The declaration of the meeting said that political and economic instability was weakening the foundations of Pakistan and endangering its integrity. It slammed the policymakers, saying that for a billion dollars, the IMF was “insulting” the entire nation.

“The enemies of the country were enjoying Pakistan’s weak economic condition but few actors in the country are playing in their hands,” the DPC said, adding, “Today, the state and the entire nation were being sacrificed for personal politics in the country, which is not acceptable to this forum.”

The DPC leaders said that “politics of vengeance will destroy the entire system… hurling unrealistic and fake criticism was neither part of Islamic teachings nor allowed in the eastern culture and traditions”. The DPC further claimed that facts were distorted through organised propaganda campaigns on social media.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, founder of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) and current leader of Ansarul Umma said, “Our motherland is fighting for survival, freedom and independence, national pride, and defence of important national interests.” “Our freedom, sovereignty and integrity are at stake,” he claimed.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2023