JAMAAT-UD-DAWA RALLY URGES MUSLIMS TO UNITE AGAINST WEST

C O N F I D E N T I A L LAHORE 000159 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/24/2016 TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL PK SUBJECT: JAMAAT-UD-DAWA RALLY URGES MUSLIMS TO UNITE AGAINST WEST CLASSIFIED BY: Brian Heath, Principal Officer, Lahore, US Department of State. REASON: 1.4 (d) ¶1. (U) Approximately 20,000 people turned out for an anti-cartoon rally organized by Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD) and held at Lahore's Minar-e-Pakistan park on Friday, March 17. Representatives from various conservative religious and political organizations joined with prominent JUD leaders in accusing the Government of Pakistan (GOP) of not doing enough to defend Islam and respond to the publication of cartoon depictions of Prophet Mohammed. They criticized the GOP's pro-West policies, called for severing ties with "cartoon publishing countries" as well as the U.S. specifically, and vowed to continue with Jihad. Of the major political parties, only those from the Mutihida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) alliance participated. ¶2. (SBU) News reports quote JUD Amir Hafiz Muhammad Saeed as saying the publication of blasphemous cartoons was a European and American-conspired counterattack on the popularity of Islam and Jihad. Saeed called on Muslim states to abandon the United Nations because it had failed to help Muslims; said there could be no compromise with India on resolving the Kashmir dispute; and vowed that Jihad would continue. (NOTE: A complete text of JUD's "Declaration for the Protection of the Prophet's Sanctity" can be found at http:// www.jamatuddawa.org/English2/index/htm. END NOTE.) Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S) chief Maulana Sami-ul-Haq called on President Musharraf to severe ties with the U.S. in order to "make clear" Muslims would not ignore their religion. Jamaat-e-Islami (JI),Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl-ur-Rehman (JUI-F),and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) officials reportedly expressed similar sentiments. Former Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Hameed Gul termed Pakistan's current government "slaves of the United States." ¶3. (SBU) The "Tahaffuz-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool Conference" (roughly translated as "Conference for the Protection of the Prophet's Sanctity") was held in a large park specifically designated for public gatherings by the Punjab Government following last month's violent anti-cartoon protest march through Lahore's downtown streets. Although there was a heavy police presence in the vicinity of the park, the government made no attempt to stop the rally or prevent supporters from gathering. With estimates of between 15,000 and 25,000 attendees, the peaceful rally was the one of the largest and most anti-American cartoon inspired events to date in Punjab. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: Most of our contacts viewed the gathering as a non-event. While acknowledging that JUD is essentially a re-branded version of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET),they characterized the rally as little more than a vociferous outburst of the "extremist fringe." Informal estimates are that more than half the attendees came from outside Lahore and made their way to the city to participate in the rally. This reflects both the strength of JUD's organizational structure (despite the 2002 ban on LeT) and the strong support for JUD's message among some segments of Pakistani society. END COMMENT. HEATH