MARDAN, Feb 20: ANP provincial Secretary-General Mian Iftikhar Hussein has deplored the violent protests in Peshawar and termed it a failure of the MMA government.

Talking to Dawn here on Monday, he said that setting buildings on fire, burning vehicles and looting shops were against the teachings of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). He said that Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten had no doubt committed blasphemy by printing cartoons against the Prophet (peace be upon him) who is the blessing for the humanity. The act of the newspaper is condemnable, but damaging property by demonstrators is also against the teachings of the holy prophet, he said.

He criticised the MMA government for its failure to control the situation, which turned ugly due to a handful of elements, who caused loss of billions of rupees to the nation.

The ANP stands by its policy of non-violence, he said, adding that the party had also protested against the publication of offensive caricatures and observed one-day hunger strike but no violence was reported.

He appealed to the people not to damage the image of the country and Islam by ransacking private and public property to vent their anger against the West.