[The chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawah, a front for terror group
Lashkar-e-Taiba, Saeed told reporters here on Tuesday that thousands of people
would participate in the congregation starting on December 4 at the ground of
Minar-i-Pakistan monument.]
Press Trust of India
 |
| Terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed |
LAHORE: In a sign of official patronage to Mumbai attacks
mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led JuD, Pakistan government is running two special
trains to transport people to Lahore for the terror group's two-day
congregation here.
The chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawah, a front for terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, Saeed
told reporters here on Tuesday that thousands of people would participate in
the congregation starting on December 4 at the ground of Minar-i-Pakistan
monument.
Pakistan Railways is operating the first train from today from Hyderabad, Sindh
province, that will arrive in Lahore on Wednesday night.
Another train will leave from Karachi and arrive here on December 4. The two
special trains will also take the people back to their hometowns on the
conclusion of the congregation.
The JuD leadership had spoken to railways minister Saad Rafique for his
permission to run special trains for its congregation, official sources told
PTI.
Spokesman for the country's railways Rauf Tahir said there had been a
"uniform policy" to run special trains on the request of political
and religious parties.
"The railways has a uniform policy for everyone. Pay and hire a train. Two
special trains will be run for JuD congregation but not free of cost," he
said.
In a related development, Imran Khan's Pakistan Tahreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has also
postponed its call to block Lahore on December 4 on the "request" of
the JuD leadership.
"Yes we have changed Lahore's plan on the request of
JuD. The JuD told us that thousands of people are coming to Lahore on December
4 and it cannot afford any hurdle in it," a senior PTI leader said on
condition of anonymity.
Tightening its noose around Lashkar-e-Taiba, the US in June added its
affiliates, including the JuD, to its list of designated terror organizations.
India has maintained that Saeed is the mastermind behind Mumbai terror attacks
in 2008, conspiracy for which was hatched, planned and executed out of
Pakistan. The attacks claimed 166 lives.
[UK
government is urged to condemn China after it refused to allow delegation of
MPs into former British territory]
By Rowena Mason
China
has broken its agreement with the UK to let Hong Kong govern its own borders
for at least 50 years in a move that must not go unchallenged, senior MPs said
on Tuesday.
In
an emergency debate in the House of Commons, MPs from all parties called on the
government to condemn China after it refused a House of Commons delegation
entry to the former British overseas territory. The MPs on the foreign affairs
committee had been hoping to investigate the governance of Hong Kong as a part
of a Commons inquiry at a time when there are violent clashes on the streets
between the police and pro-democracy campaigners.
The
proposed visit was part of an inquiry into Hong Kong’s relations with the UK 30
years after the joint declaration that led to the handover to China in 1997,
under which the territory has the right to a degree of autonomy.
However,
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Hua Chunying has dismissed the
UK’sobjections as useless and claimed Beijing has responsibility for who is
allowed into Hong Kong.
“China’s
opposition to any foreign government, organisation or individual interfering in
Hong Kong’s affairs in any form is resolute,” Hua told a daily news briefing,
according to Reuters.
“If
certain people in Britain still want to keep on like this, it is not only irrational
and useless but like lifting up a rock to drop it on one’s foot.”
She
said the MPs were not there to conduct “a normal, friendly visit but to carry
out a so-called investigation on Chinese territory”.
“We
do not need any foreign lawmakers to carry out probes. I hope they can clearly
see this basic reality,” she said.
MPs
have reacted with fury to the decision, saying it is unprecedented in the
history of Commons foreign affairs committee trips to countries such as Iran,
Russia, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.
During
the lengthy debate, Sir Richard Ottaway, the chairman of the committee, said
the move “would only harm China’s reputation and financial interest in an
increasingly global world”.
A
range of senior politicians who have chaired select committees also lined up to
criticise China’s decision, including Sir Gerald Kaufman, Sir Malcolm Rifkind,
Sir John Stanley and Mike Gapes.
In
particular, Stanley, a senior Conservative, said he was “disappointed” with the
reaction of the Foreign Office for only saying the ban was “regrettable”.
Kaufman said trade was important but “so is morality” as he called for the UK
to take a stronger stance, even at the expense of business with China.
So
far, the prime minister’s official spokesman has said the decision is a
“mistaken one” and “counter-productive because it only serves to amplify
concerns about the situation in Hong Kong, rather than diminishing concerns”.
Hugo
Swire, the Foreign Office minister with responsibility for China affairs, has
also met a senior Chinese Communist party official, Guo Yezhou, in London in an
effort to persuade Beijing to grant visas.
Swire
emphasised that the foreign affairs committee was independent from the
government, and that the proposed visit did not therefore amount to the UK
government meddling in China’s internal affairs. The foreign secretary, Philip
Hammond, also raised the issue with his counterpart, Wang Yi, at the margins of
nuclear talks in Vienna last week.
The
UK and China have been seeking to repair ties, which have been strained since
Cameron met the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, in 2012. The British
government is also conducting an urgent inquiry into the use of UK-made teargas
by the Hong Kong police in light of renewed and violent clashes in the former
UK colony. British teargas was used by Hong Kong police against demonstrators
on 28 September, ministers have confirmed.
Hong
Kong is supposed to retain wide-ranging freedoms and autonomy under a “one
country, two systems” formula. A wave of demonstrations in the country has been
triggered by Beijing’s attempts to control nominations for 2017 presidential
elections.
