KARACHI: Religious parties including Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM), Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), Jaffaria Alliance Pakistan (JAP), Shia Ulema Council (SUC) and Pakistan Sunni Tehreek (PST) took out rallies and held demonstrations and condolence meetings at various places across Sindh to condemn the worst-ever terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar and express solidarity with the armed forces in the ongoing war against terrorism.

The JI organised congregations at various mosques in Karachi after Juma prayers.

The main congregation was held at the Idara Noor-i-Haq where JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman prayed for the martyred souls of the Peshawar tragedy.

He told the participants that the entire political scenario of the country had changed after the tragic incident. He called for national unity to counter terrorism.

He urged the government to review its policies on national security and evolve an effective counter-terrorism strategy in consultation with the military, political and religious leaderships.

In Hyderabad, Jamaat-ud-Daawa (Jud) held a big public meeting which was addressed by Prof Abdul Rehman Makki.

Speaking at the meeting, he said that Indian secret agency had been funding all terror attacks in Pakistan.In Jacobabad, the MWM and ASWJ held separate rallies to protest the Peshawar carnage and pay homage to the martyres.

He said that Nato forces faced a defeat in Afghanistan and then organised terror attacks on mosques and religious leaders in that country and Pakistan. Their aim was to defame Jihad and weaken Pakistan, he added.

The MWM rally started from the central Imambargah and ended outside the local press club. Led by Allama Maqsood Ahmed Domki, Fazal Abbas Shah, Nisar Ahmed Abro and others, the participants held a sit-in and raised slogans against terrorism. Similar rallies were taken out from different places in Mirpurkhas district.

The ASWJ rally was taken out from Shaheed Allah Bukhsh Park and it also ended outside the local press club. It was led by Hafiz Mohammed Yousuf Farooqi, Zamir Ahmed Banglani and Faheem Ahmed Banglani.

A condolence reference for the terror victims was held at the Govt Higher Secondary School, Dao Jahan Pur, where teachers and students paid homage to the young schoolchildren and other people who were martyred in the Peshawar tragedy.

Several hundred workers and supporters of the ASWJ, JI, PST took part in their respective rallies taken out from various mosques after Juma prayers. They carried banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the Peshawar carnage and different terrorist organisations.

The participants raised slogans against Taliban and their supporters, and demanded a decisive military strike on all terrorist organisations operating in the country.

During their march through the streets, the participants held sit-ins at several places and blocked thoroughfares to register their protest against the act of terrorism.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2014