Press Release
Hizb ut-Tahrir condemns American sponsored bomb attack in Lahore and demands that the Army and ISI give a fitting reply

To counter the growing negative opinion within the Ummah regarding the Malakand operation, American agencies have adopted lowly acts of aggression.  The recent bomb blast in Lahore in front of the buildings of ISI and Rescue 15 is one such example. Hizb ut-Tahrir strongly condemns the bomb blast, perpetrated at the behest of the Americans and demands that the ISI and the Army give a befitting response.  The practical way of doing this is that they give Nusrrah to Hizb ut-Tahrir for the establishment of the Khilafah "Caliphate", which will not only liberate the Muslims from American oppression, but the whole world.

Any observer of the political events of Pakistan knows that today's incident only serves American interests.  Especially when the heart-breaking stories of the displaced Muslims of Swat and the innocent civilians trapped in Buner and Dir have now started to make their way to the press. As time passes, the horror of the oppressive American operation has started to become more and more obvious to the Ummah. The masses have started to understand that whether it was the video of lashing a woman or images of destroyed schools, the actual purpose was to generate hatred against the militants and then directing it to start a military operation against the innocent people of Swat. People have also started to realise that the real target of America was not these few thousand militants, but rather the three million people of Swat who were driven out of their homes and forced to live under blazing sun along with their women, children and the elderly.  People have started to understand that bombing a city with artillery and fighter jets, or starving the trapped civilians by enforcing curfew or providing virtually no facility for a common man to flee from the battle ground is not the way to fight the militants. Even India did not employ such tactics in Kashmir, nor Britain in Northern Ireland!!  People have also started to observe that after every military operation the militants manage to escape to a new area and the government chases them to "conquer" that area. People have also started to realise that America wants to make Muslims fight Muslims in Pakistan just like what she did in Iraq and Afghanistan. In such a situation America clearly saw a strong wave of public opinion rising among the masses in opposition to the ongoing military operation which would have forced the government and the military to stop the operation. America had already seen one such example of public anger after the Red Mosque massacre. Therefore, the American agencies instantly came into motion and conducted bomb blasts in Peshawar and Lahore so that public opinion could be swayed in favour of the American war.  We warn the Ummah about these American designs and call upon them to view these bomb blasts in its proper political context so that America fails to achieve her evil objectives. Islam condemns that a Muslim fights a fellow Muslim and no Muslim can perpetrate this heinous act of mass killing.  Allah سبحانه وتعالى says in the glorious Qur'an:

[وَمَن يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِناً مُّتَعَمِّداً فَجَزَآؤُهُ جَهَنَّمُ خَالِداً فِيهَا وَغَضِبَ اللّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَلَعَنَهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُ عَذَاباً عَظِيماً]

"And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell to abide therein, and the Wrath and the Curse of Allâh are upon him, and a great punishment is prepared for him." [Surah An-Nisa'a 4:93]

RasulAllah سلم و عليه الله صلى said,

إذا التقى المسلمان بسيفيهما فالقاتل والمقتول في النار , قلنا يا رسول الله هذا القاتل فما بال المقتول قال انه كان حريصا على قتل صاحبه

"When two Muslims face each other in fighting and one kills the other, then both the killer and the killed are in the hell-fire." The Companions asked, "O Messenger of Allah, this is the killer - what about the poor person who has been killed?" The Prophet, سلم و عليه الله صلى, said "He had the intention to kill his companion."

The purpose of lighting fires in various parts of Pakistan is to engage the people of the region so that they are not able to turn their attention to the American occupation in Afghanistan and help their Muslim brothers. Hence, this civil war is to turn the weapons away from the real enemy, America, and onto their own Muslim brothers. Moreover, America hopes to turn the Islam loving people away from Islam through spreading chaos. Furthermore, by stretching Pak Army on the western boarders, America is also making its defence capabilities in comparison to India.  America wants to confuse the people about the method of implementing Islam so that the people should feel that the struggle for implementation of Islam only produces further chaos, which only adds to the woes of the people. The reality is that there is no scope for militancy in the method to establish Islam, as is clear from the method derived from the life of RasulAllah (saw). Today, Hizb ut-Tahrir is working on the same path of intellectual and political struggle and asking for Nusrah (material support) that RasulAllah (saw) adopted during his work for thirteen years in Makkah.

We ask the fringe groups that support the Swat operation, whilst "enjoying" the "action" on TV from the comfort of their air conditioned drawing rooms- would they also demand a Swat like operation on their cities if few thousand militants entered their cities?  Obviously not, so, if they would not like this for themselves, then why are they allowing this tragedy to fall upon their own brothers in Swat?

The fact of the matter is that a civil war in Pakistan to further American interests is devastating for Pakistan in all aspects. The Ummah should reject the state propaganda and stand up against the American crusade.  The people should come out in hundreds of thousands to participate in peaceful protests and rallies to force the government to stop such operations. And they must convey a clear message that it is not just the people of Swat who long for Shari'ah, rather all the people of Pakistan want Islam.  This is the only way to stop civil war in Pakistan and subsequently liberate her from the American crusade.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is taking out nationwide rallies on Sunday 31 May 2009 at 5 pm. The rallies will take place at Regal Chawk in Karachi, Nasir Bagh in Lahore and Liaqat Bagh in Rawalpindi. The purpose of these rallies is to prevent the people and our brothers in the Pak Army from becoming fodder in the American crusade. We call upon the Ummah that they participate in these rallies to raise the word of Truth against the tyranny in Swat and fulfil their Fard (obligation) of Amr bil Maruf wa nahi unil Munkar (enjoining the good and forbidding the evil) which is an obligation on all Muslims.  RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم said, 

كَلَّا وَاللَّهِ لَتَأْمُرُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَلَتَنْهَوُنَّ عَنْ الْمُنْكَرِ وَلَتَأْخُذُنَّ عَلَى يَدَيْ الظَّالِمِ وَلَتَأْطُرُنَّهُ عَلَى الْحَقِّ أَطْرًا وَلَتَقْصُرُنَّهُ عَلَى الْحَقِّ قَصْرًاأَوْ لَيَضْرِبَنَّ اللَّهُ بِقُلُوبِ بَعْضِكُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ ثُمَّ لَيَلْعَنَنَّكُمْ كَمَا لَعَنَهُمْ 

"By Allah in whose hand my soul is, you must order for good and forbid evil, and seize the hand of oppressor and pull him towards al-Haq and keep him on truth, otherwise Allah will strike your hearts with each other and will curse you as he cursed children of Israel" [Abu Daud]

 Naveed Butt
Official Spokesman of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Pakistan