Lahore: Leaders of several extremist and hardline groups, including the JuD, met main opposition PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and invited him to join their rally to be held on Sunday against the November 26 NATO raid and the government`s plan to give the MFN status to India.
The representatives of the Defa-e-Pakistan Council (Defence of Pakistan Council), a conglomerate of about 40 right-wing groups, met Sharif at his palatial residence in Raiwind on Friday. The delegation included senior JuD leaders Amir Hamza and Abdul Rehman Makki and Jamaat-e-Islami`s Liaquat Baloch, Pir Ijaz Hashmi and Abdur Rauf Farooqi.
According to a PML-N spokesman, Sharif supported the rightwing groups` planned rally to protest a NATO air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and the government`s plan to give the Most Favoured Nation-status to India but did not make any commitment regarding his party`s participation in the event entitled `Save Pakistan Conference`.
"Sharif praised the Council`s campaign against the NATO attack but was reluctant to commit regarding his or the party`s participation, saying a decision would be taken in consultation with PML-N leaders," the spokesman said. The delegation was led by former ISI chief Hamid Gul, the creator of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad, a rightwing alliance that opposed slain former premier Benazir Bhutto`s government in 1988.
A member of the delegation quoted Sharif as saying that every party should play its role because Pakistan was in troubled political waters. Sharif was further quoted as having said that the NATO attack on November 26 was the result of wrong policies and the government should review its foreign policy. PTI