KARACHI, Oct 16: Criticising the formation of tribal lashkars in the country’s north, Jamat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed on Thursday warned that the move could only lead to further chaos.

He called for a change in the government’s current policies and said that it was important to let the US know that it could not fight against its own people. In the same breath he clarified: “We do not want war with the US”.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed made these remarks at a press conference held in Karachi, the last stop of the JI train march that began in Peshawar on October 7 and passed through Nowshera, Jehangiri, Attock, Hassan Abdal, Taxila, Rawalpindi, Chaklala, Gujjar Khan, Jhelum, Lalamusa, Gujrat, Wazirabad, Gujranwala, Multan and Sukkur.

He asserted that his tour of the three provinces enabled him to see that the people of Pakistan were unhappy with the present government’s policies that included the military operation in the north and the price-hike and load-shedding crisis in the rest of the country.

He stressed that in the view of the masses, “this war is not Pakistan’s and is in fact a ploy of US and India to create chaos.”

Nevertheless, he toned down his criticism of India while comparing the Bajaur operation to the Indian military presence in held Kashmir, and said: “In 60 years of its existence, even in Kashmir, India has never used it’s the air force to quell rebellion and unrest.”

He termed the use of such force in the north of Pakistan as unconstitutional.

The JI chief attributed the tarnished image of the armed forces to the operation in the north.

“The armed forces are being viewed by the people of Pakistan as US mercenaries,” he said. He stressed that Generals in Islamabad seen moving around the city under extreme security indicated faulty and misplaced government policies.

He added that the people in the north had always stood by the country against external threats and therefore putting their lives in danger was not a wise move.

Talking about the price hike that the public is facing, Qazi Hussain Ahmed said that while petrol and oil prices were plummeting in the rest of the world, an increase in oil and diesel prices has made life for the poor in Pakistan unliveable. He also criticised the 70 per cent increase in power tariff by the government.

Answering a question he clarified the Jamaat’s position on parliament’s in-camera session, stating that his party did not boycott the current assembly proceedings.

“Dr Mohammad Sahil, Professor Khursheed Ahmed, Afia Zia and others were present for the session,” he said, adding that the briefing was shallow as it provided the parliamentarians only sketchy information already known to journalists.