ISLAMABAD MARCH 9. The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, an alliance of six religious parties in Pakistan, today demonstrated its muscle power by holding a mammoth second ‘million march’ in Rawalpindi against possible U.S. led military attack against Iraq.
Today's march is part of series of such demonstrations planned by the alliance to mobilise people support against the U.S. The first march was held on March 2 in the port city of Karachi.
An estimated three to five lakhs people turned up at today's march though the organisers claimed a turnout of over a million. The dispute on the numbers apart, the march was an impressive event and has brought to fore the street power of the religious parties.
The two rallies together reflect the prevailing anti-American sentiment all over Pakistan. The demonstrations only complicate matters for the Pervez Musharraf- Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali Government that would be called upon to vote early next week on the second resolution on Iraq in the United Nations Security Council.
Another way of looking at the demonstrations is that they provide the much-needed leverage to the Government to cope with the pressures from the U.S. to support its view on Iraq. As of now Islamabad has opted for the safest option and has been emphasising the need to tackle the Iraq crisis through the U.N. route.
However there is one issue, arising out of the rallies, that should be of concern to the Government. That is the demand for asking the U.S. to vacate from the Pakistani military bases.
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