HYDERABAD: Protesters call for boycotting European goods
Dawn Report
HYDERABAD, Feb 18: Protest demonstrations against the publication of blasphemous cartoons in European newspapers continued in many parts of interior of Sindh on Saturday.
The protesters called for boycotting European goods and severing diplomatic relations with countries which had published the sacrilegious caricatures.
In Hyderabad, activists of the Jamaat Ahl-i-Sunnat staged a rally outside the press club.
Speaking on the occasion, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal MPA Abdur Rehman Rajput, Maulana Abdur Rasheed, Qari Sharif Naqshbandi, former City Taluka Nazim Moinuddin Shaikh and others demanded punishment to editors whose papers had published the blasphemous cartoons and the cartoonist.
They demanded that the government should snap diplomatic, trade and cultural relations with countries which had published the sacrilegious cartoons.
SUKKUR: Activists of the JUI took out a procession in Sukkur on motorcycles and bicycles on Saturday following publication of blasphemous cartoons in newspapers of Denmark and other European countries.
The protesters were led by Maulana Abdul Haq Mahar and Maulana Abdul Karim Abbasi.
The procession started from the Moti Mosque at the Shikarpur road and passing through main thoroughfares of the city reached the press club where the protesters staged a demonstration.
The protesters said a grand procession will be taken out from the Thehri bypass to the Clock Tower on February 23 to condemn the blasphemy.
MATIARI: On a call of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam and the People’s Party Parliamentarians, a shutter-down strike was observed in the town.
JUI leader Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro and PPP MPA Pir Noor Shah Hashmi led separate processions which terminated at the press club after marching through different roads.
According to reports, 20,000 people participated in the processions. They burnt tyres and effigies of different Western leaders.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Soomro called for death sentence to perpetrators of the crime.
He urged the government to give up hypocrisy and perform its expected role failing which, the movement would be converted into anti-government protest.
MPA Hashmi called for boycotting European goods.
NAWABSHAH: Members of the women’s wing of the Jamaat-i-Islami held a protest demonstration outside the local press club.
Carrying placards and raising slogans against Denmark, France and Norway, the protesters were led by Dr Samina Asif and Dr Sabira Amjad.
They demanded that the government should sever diplomatic and economic relations with European countries involved in the publication of the blasphemous caricatures.
Residents of the Qazi Ahmad town also took out a procession which ended at the press club.
KHAIRPUR: One a call of trade and religious organizations, a shutter-down strike in the Gambat taluka continued for the second day on Saturday.
Traders of the taluka also held a protest meeting.
DADU: A shutter-down strike was observed in the Dadu town on Saturday.
Hundreds of people, including social workers, took out a procession and after marching through various roads and streets, held a demonstration outside the local press club.
