Hundreds join JuD prayers for martyr Osama

The funeral prayers for Osama was held amid heavy presence of police and paramilitary personnel

Hundreads of activists of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD),the group headed by Hafiz Saeed who is wanted by India in connection with terror activities,on Tuesday offered funeral prayers for Osama bin Laden on one of Karachis busiest roads,calling him a martyr of Islam.

The funeral prayers for Osama was held amid heavy presence of police and paramilitary personnel. The JuD activists,many of whom were seen weeping,chanted slogans,hailing Osama.

He is a martyr of Islam and laid down his life for Muslims. He fought for Muslims, said Engineer Naved Qamar,the Ameer of JuD Karachi.

Before and after the funeral prayers held on the main university road,where a well-known religious school is located,young men shouted slogans hailing Osama and against the US and its President Barack Obama.

Police officials earlier tried to convince the JuD leaders to postpone the funeral prayers or hold it inside closed premises but they did not relent.

A representative of the Jamaat-ul-Islam (JUI),a mainstream politio-religious party,was also present at the prayers.

This came on a day,Pakistan described as outdated Indias demand for action against the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attacks in the wake of the killing of bin Laden,with Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir saying that such statements were not helpful for the peace process.

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It is a familiar line (and) outdated. It is some part of the old system repeating itself, Bashir told a news conference in Islamabad while responding to a question about India’s demand for action against terrorists believed to be holed up in Pakistan,including those responsible for the Mumbai carnage.

This line of thinking is mired in a mindset that is neither realistic nor productive. Such statements are not very helpful, he said,referring to the recent resumption of dialogue between the two countries after a gap of over two years. India suspended its peace process in the wake of the 26/11 attack,which was blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba and its front organisation,JuD.

On Monday,Home Minister P Chidambaram noted that bin Laden had been killed by US forces deep inside Pakistan and said this underlined Indias concern that terrorists belonging to different organisations find sanctuary in Pakistan.

We believe that the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack,including the controllers and handlers of the terrorists who actually carried out the attack,continue to be sheltered in Pakistan, he said.