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ISLAMABAD, May 13: Thousands of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) activists attended demonstrations organized across the country on Friday to protest against the desecration of Holy Quran by US soldiers in the Guantanamo Bay detention centre. MMA’s president Qazi Hussain Ahmed said that he had written to religious organizations around the world to observe a ‘world protest day’ in the last week of May.
The ulema in their sermons before Jumma prayer called upon the faithful to protest against ‘insensitive policies’ of the US administration that had hurt sentiments of the Muslims throughout the world. In Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the religious leaders demanded expulsion of the US ambassador and severing of diplomatic ties with the United States.
While condemning the US administration, they came down hard on President Gen Musharraf for his ‘pro-US policies’. They expressed shock and anger at the desecration of the Holy Quran. Condemnation resolutions were passed in many mosques.
Speaking at a demonstration outside the Lal Mosque near Aabpara, MMA’s deputy parliamentary leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmad said the US had challenged the faith of the Muslims.
“By insulting the Quran, they have challenged our belief. We are hurt. If we don’t rise against Americans, if we don’t give them a strong message today, they will do it again,” he warned.
In Rawalpindi, Qari Saeedur Rehman, Qari Muhammad Hanif Jalandhari, Qazi Abdur Rashid and many others in their speeches demanded action against the US.
The local chapter of the MMA announced that it would bring out a protest procession on Sunday. Similar reports were received from Attock, Wah, Taxila, Hasan Abdal, Haripur, Jhelum and Chakwal.
LAHORE: MMA’s president Qazi Hussain Ahmed slated the incident and said he had appealed to the Islamic movements throughout the world to protest against the US.
Criticizing President Musharraf for his policies, the Jamaat-i-Islami leader said that Pakistan would remain a US target no matter how moderate or enlightened the rulers tried to make it.
MMA’s provincial president Liaquat Baloch was among the prominent speakers who led demonstrations in different parts of the city.
KARACHI: Protests were held outside the Jamia Banoria, Memon Masjid Hussainabad, Farooq-i-Azam Mosque North Nazimabad, and Al-Akhwan Mosque New Karachi.
MMA’s provincial vice-president Abdul Karim Abid, Allama Hassan Turabi, MMA’s deputy parliamentary leader in the Sindh Assembly Nasarullah Khan Shajee, Jamaat-i-Islami leader Dr Merajul Huda Siddiqui and others spoke at the demos.
They demanded a country-wide strike against the desecration of the Holy Quran by the US troops, inhuman treatment of prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay and publication of a derogatory cartoon in an American newspaper. They decried the US human rights record by citing prisoner abuse cases in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay prisons. The MMA leaders regretted that President Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had not condemned the incident.
QUETTA: The MMA staged a protest at the main bazaar, Manan Chowk, while a demonstration was taken out from the Jamia mosque.
The protesters burnt the US flag and raised pro-Taliban slogans.
MMA’s provincial vice-president Maulana Noor Muhammad and provincial ministers Maulana Dur Muhammad and Maulana Abdul Rahim made speeches on the occasion.
Maulana Noor, while condemning the government policies towards the US, demanded that US ambassador should be expelled from the country.
