ISLAMABAD(Palestine Foundation Information Center) Pakistani protesters at a sit-in in Islamabad on Sunday demanded the government take “decisive action” and concrete steps for a ceasefire in Gaza and the establishment of a humanitarian assistance corridor for its residents.
The day-long demonstration at Islamabad’s D-Chowk was organized by the Save Gaza campaign and attended by a large number of Pakistanis, including politicians, civil society members, journalists, and students.
Mushtaq Ahmed, a former senator, said he came to show solidarity with the people of Gaza and to condemn the Israeli “crimes against humanity.”
Addressing the participants at the sit-in he demanded from the Pakistani government to move for an immediate ceasefire, to establish a humanitarian assistance corridor, and to start the proceedings against the Israeli war crimes and the crimes against humanity.
“We are going to stay at D-Chowk until and unless we get a positive, decisive response from the Government of Pakistan toward a peaceful and just solution of this horrific genocide,” he told Arab News.
He urged the Pakistani government to take decisive action for immediate global intervention and heightened pressure for an immediate ceasefire.
Pakistan should establish a formal team to join South Africa in its petition to the International Court of Justice against Israel for committing “crimes against humanity,” he suggested.
“Pakistan should also initiate proceedings on Israel’s war crimes in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC),” Mushtaq Ahmed said.
The former Senator urged the Pakistani government to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, including the dispatch of a naval fleet to deliver substantial quantities of food, medicine, and essential supplies.
Apart from weekly protests since November last year, he said, the Pakistani government had not taken effective steps toward a ceasefire in Gaza.
“We are now arranging this sit-in because Pakistan’s government has not yet [issued] demarche to the United Kingdom and the United States ambassadors and also has not yet raised any voice at the international level for a ceasefire,” he said, adding their efforts would continue and the government would have to respond to their demands.
In recent months, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Munir Akram, has repeatedly raised the Palestine issue at the world forum.
Islamabad has also dispatched several aid consignments for the people of Gaza amid continuing Israeli strikes.
