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Difa-e-Pakistan Council


The Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) (lit. Defence of Pakistan Council) is an umbrella coalition of more than 40 Pakistani Political and Religious parties that advocate conservative policies such as closing NATO supply routes to Afghanistan and rejects the Pakistani government decision to grant India most-favored nation status.

Presently, the Chief of The Defence of Pakistan Council is Sami ul Haq.

The council is an alliance of right-wing groups, some of which are banned. It is chaired by Maulana Samiul Haq and includes leaders of Jamatud Dawa (JuD) and the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), operating under the name of Ahl-e-Sunnat-Wal-Jamaat (ASWJ).Fazlur Rehman Khalil, a founder of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and currently head of the Ansar-ul Umma, is another leading cleric in the council. According to the council's website, 36 organizations or people are part of the DPC (although only 36 are listed due to misnumbering):

The umbrella organization was formed in November 2011 in response to the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers who were killed by American planes along the Afghan border. Pakistan closed NATO supply routes to Afghanistan after the strikes but reopened the routes in July 2012 when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologized. Thousands of supporters rallied in Islamabad on July 9, 2012 in protest of the government's decision to reopen the lines. Several other organizations such as Tanzeem e Islami send delegates for debate or speech to the Difa e Pakistan Council Forums upon request as non-member guest speakers or participants in debate, or in some cases as observers.


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