ISLAMABAD, Dec 24: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal on Friday spearheaded country-wide protest demonstrations called by the All Parties Khatm-i-Nabuwat Conference against the removal of the religion column from the new machine-readable passport and demanded its restoration to block entry of Qadianis into Saudi Arabia.

In their sermons, khateebs focused on the issue and later led protest processions taken out from most of the mosques. Speaking to demonstrators at Aabpara here, MMA's deputy parliamentary leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed called upon Saudi Arabia not to issue visas on passports without the religion column. Otherwise, he warned, they would march on its embassy in protest.

He said the MMA had struggled hard to stop a military dictator from amending the constitution. He alleged that had the MMA not resisted, General Pervez Musharraf would have even removed from the constitution the articles relating to Khatm-i-Nabuwat. He emphasized that only the religion column could differentiate between a Qadiani and a Muslim.

He called upon the government to talk to the 13-member coordination committee constituted by the All Parties Conference instead of getting its decision endorsed by a few 'stooges' in the name of ulema.

MMA's deputy secretary-general Liaquat Baloch said efforts were being made to change the Islamic character of the constitution. He referred to earlier attempts to remove the religion column from the voter lists which was restored after strong protests.

In Rawalpindi, protests were held in Allama Iqbal Colony, Tench Bhatta and Dhoke Hassu. A silent demonstration was held in F-Block in which hundreds of MMA supporters and other people marched on the road.

PESHAWAR: Workers of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam and Jamaat-i-Islami took out processions from Namak Mandi and Mohabat Khan mosque, respectively, and assembled at the Qissa Khwani Bazaar.

MNAs Shabbir Ahmad Khan and Qari Fayazur Rehman Alvi led the processions. The protesters, holding banners and placards, chanted slogans against the elimination of religious column from the passport.

Activists of the Alami Majlis-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwat also took part in the processions. In their speeches, the MMA leaders said that on the one hand the government had removed the religion column from the passport, on the other the Aga Khan Foundation had been allowed to set up its own education board.