ISLAMABAD, June 4: Hundreds of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) workers took to the streets, condemning incidents of violence in Karachi, specially the murder of religious scholar Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai on Friday.

The rally, which commenced shortly after Friday prayers from Lal Masjid and culminated at Aabpara Chowk, was led by opposition leader in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Speaking to the participants, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said: "Like other religious scholars and leaders, Nizamuddin Shamzai was gunned down as he always spoke the truth and voiced against US atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan."

He criticized the Sindh government for failing to fulfil their responsibilities and maintaining law and order situation in Karachi. He said incidence of sectarian violence had increased under the present government compared with previous regimes and these were to have strong repercussions on the society as a whole.

"Almost a thousand religious workers have been arrested for attacks on Gen Pervez Musharraf while no one has been apprehended for the murder of Maulana Azam Tariq and other important religious figures who had been assassinated," he added.

The opposition leader said the US wanted to rule the entire globe, specially the Muslim world. "Iraq and Afghanistan have been turned into US bases. And even Pakistan had become a base after the government allowed America to use its air bases for military operations in Afghanistan," he added.