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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