KARACHI / HYDERABAD: Rallies were held across Karachi and other parts of Sindh to observe Al Quds Day to express solidarity with the people of Palestine.

A large number of people, including women and children thronged M. A. Jinnah Road on Friday to mark the day amid tight security.

Mainly organised by Imamia Students Organisation (ISO), a large number of participants marched from Numaish intersection to Tibet Centre where leaders from parties addressed the people.

The key speakers at the rally included Ameen Shirazi of the ISO, Maulana Hasan Zafar Naqvi, Maulana Nazar Abbas Taqvi, Sindh Local Bodies Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, Dr Mairaj ul Huda Siddiqi of the Jamaat-i-Islami and Firdous Shamim Naqvi of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

The people, who attended the events across the city, also demanded strong reaction from the Muslim world for immediate help to the people in Gaza and rejected the “so-called normalisation of terms with Israel” from some Islamic countries and warned the rulers of those states that their move could lead to devastating consequences.

The annual Youm-ul-Quds rally, traditionally held on the last Friday of Ramazan, witnessed unprecedented fervour this year because tensions in the Middle East have greatly escalated.

The demonstrations drew larger crowds and heightened emotions amid the US and Israeli aggression against Iran and the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in recent strikes.

The protesters also voiced strong condemnation of what they described as ongoing Zionist atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza and the wider Palestinian territories.

Carrying placards, banners, and portraits of the assassinated Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his son, the newly elected Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, protesters chanted slogans against the United States and Israel.

“The Zionist state, Israel, established in 1948, is an illegitimate state and a colonial project of the US and the UK. Al-Quds is the land of the prophets, and it is the foremost responsibility of Muslim rulers to support the Palestinian cause,” Ameen Shirazi of the ISO said in his address.

He called on the international community to initiate legal proceedings against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its war crimes and violations of international agreements.

Condemning the Israeli brutalities against the humanity, he also questioned the “criminal silence” of the world in general and Muslim countries in particular.

Palestine Foundation also organised a pictorial exhibition along M.A. Jinnah Road to highlight the plight of Palestinian people, the devastation of civilian infrastructure caused by the US and Israeli forces in Iran and to expose the barbarism of Zionist forces in the Middle East.

“Apart from the world powers, we also condemn the silence of the human rights organisations in face of atrocities of the Zionist regime and its allies against the innocent Palestinians and Iran,” said Dr Sabir Abu Maryam of Palestine Foundation Pakistan while talking to media.

“Now every form of resistance against Israeli apartheid is a legitimate response to the oppression and violence faced by Palestinians daily. A lasting peace in Gaza and Palestine cannot be achieved without Israel putting an end to its settler colonial expansion and reverting to the borders as they stood before 1967.”

Rallies were also held in Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, Badin, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Ghotki and other district headquarters and smaller cities and towns of the interior of Sindh to mark Al-Quds Day.

In Hyderabad, the Shia Ulema Council (SUC) Pakistan district chapter staged a rally, which started from Qadam Gah Maula Ali and culminated at the local press club.

In Sukkur, a grand rally was organised by the Al-Quds Committee of Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM). Besides other mainstream political and religious organisations, it was participated by leaders and members of MWM’s youth and women wing.

The rally began from Jamia Haideri Mosque, Old Sukkur, and marched through various thoroughfares to reach the Sukkur Press Club.

In Khairpur, a rally was taken out by various Shia organisations from Mohalla Ali Murad Shah to Chhatthi Chowk.

They expressed solidarity with Iran and its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

In Jacobabad, an MWM rally was taken out from the central Imambargah. After passing through various roads, it culminated outside the local press club.

In Ghotki, a big protest demonstration was held in front of the Khanpur Mahar Press Club.

In Mirpurkhas, different Shia organisations, including Asgharya Students Organisation Mirpurkhas and Shia Ulma Council took out a protest rally from the shrine of Imam Bargah Makhan Shah to the local press club.

At the press club, the protest leaders addressed them.

In Badin, a protest rally was held by Khawaja Shia Isna Ashri Jamat and the Asgharia Student Organis­ation Badin against the alleged attacks on Iran. It was led by Hasnain Khawaja Mudassar Mehndi and Maulana Bahadur Ali Memon.

The rally started from the Central Imambargah Kashana-i-Zainabia at Shah Nawaz Chowk and marched towards the Badin Press Club, where protesters staged a demonstration.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2026