JI announces nationwide strike on 26th over Gaza

ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Sunday announced a nationwide strike on April 26 in solidarity with ongoing Israeli aggression against Gaza. Addressing the Gaza Solidarity March in Islamabad, the JI chief lambasted Muslim rulers for their silence over the genocide in Gaza. He warned that if the rulers did not "wake up" after the JI's million march, "then we will have to do more". The Ji chief also demanded that a Hamas office be opened in Pakistan. "Palestinian children are being slaughtered, our rulers are asleep, but the Ummah is wide awake," the Ji chief asserted. "We are not afraid of bullets or guns," he declared. "Gaza has been turned into a pile of rubble. I tell the rulers to rise and raise your voice against Israel." He urged Muslim rulers to "show some dignity in the face of oppression". Referring to the carnage in Gaza, he lamented that 50 bodies were being buried every 48 hours. "The success of Gaza is the success of the oppressed across the world," he added, calling on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to play its role. However, he clarified that JI does not want confrontation with the police. "When we announce a march, no containers can block our way." He pointed out that religious scholars have issued a fatwa that jihad was obligatory under current circumstances.