KARACHI, Feb 15: Various political and religious parties, women groups and minority organizations staged protest demonstrations and took out rallies on Wednesday against the publication of sacrilegious cartoons by the European press.

The participants urged the government to sever ties with the countries concerned and called for a boycott of such European products.

They demanded that the perpetrators of the blasphemous sketches be punished and be made to tender apologies to the Ummah.

One of the rally, staged by the Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) in front of Karachi Press Club, strongly condemned the publication of odious sketches.

Addressing the participants, Prof Nuzhat said that Christianity preached respect for all religions and their followers. She said that the Christian community in Pakistan saw the publication of blasphemous sketches as a conspiracy to harm the inter-faith harmony.

The participants included YWCA members from Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Lahore.

The Women Commission of the Jamaat-i-Islami organized a rally against the publication of the blasphemous caricatures.

Atiya Nisar, provincial convenor of the Commission, called for punishment to all those involved in the conspiracy, and urged the Muslim world to convene an urgent meeting of the OIC to discuss the issue. She urged Muslim women to boycott Western countries’ cosmetics.

The All-Private Schools Management Association, Sindh, organized a demonstration to condemn the blasphemy. It has already announced a strike by all private schools on Friday (Feb 17).

The demonstration was led by Syed Khalid Shah.

At a separate rally, Altaf Shakoor, President of the Pasban, appealed for people’s support to the Feb 17 strike call made by religious and political parties.

Addressing the rally, held outside the KPC, he condemned the publication of the sketches, and also criticized police for suppressing such rallies. He said the government was responsible for the loss of innocent people’s lives in Lahore and Peshawar.—PPI