LAHORE, Oct 8: Religious parties held peaceful demonstrations and took out processions in different parts of the city on Monday to condemn America for launching an attack on Afghanistan.
The demonstrators who were small in number in every instance, burnt tyres, American flags and effigies of the American president and President Gen Pervez Musharraf. They lashed out at the US administration for what they said launching an offensive against the Islamic forces and killing innocent Afghan people.
But they refrained from damaging public property or clashing with police who remained alert throughout the day to guard against any untoward incident. No display of weapons was noticed during any of the processions and demonstrations, and the workers and elders expressed their anger mainly over America.
Strong police contingent remained on duty at every sensitive point in the city. Police in riot gear also accompanied every procession but they showed restraint.
People faced inconvenience in many localities as the sporadic protests disrupted traffic. Police made people to remove their vehicles from The Mall and adjoining streets.
Traders too kept their shops closed during the demonstrations especially on The Mall where the component parties of the Pak-Afghan Defence Council and the Islami Jamiat Talaba protested.
It was the pro-Taliban Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (F) which first held two demonstrations in the morning, one on Ferozepur Road near Jamia Ashrafia and the other on Multan Road. The party also held yet another demonstration on the Circular Road.
The demonstration on Multan Road was led by JUI’s Secretary-General Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and others by Lahore Chief Maulana Mohibun Nabi and others.
Workers burnt an effigy of the American president on the Circular Road and tyres on Multan Road, disrupting traffic there. Maulana Haideri and other leaders delivered speeches against America, saying by attacking Afghanistan it had committed terrorism.
Maulana Haideri appealed to the people to wage a jihad against America and warned that a jihad would also be waged against the Pakistan government if it stopped people from supporting Taliban. He termed the attack on Afghanistan terrorism against Islam.
Other JUI leaders condemned the house arrest of Maulana Fazlur Rehman and announced the boycott of all American products.
The Jamiat Talaba-i-Arabia held a demonstration near the Multan Road Chungi under Jamaat-i-Islami naib amir Liaquat Baloch and Punjab amir Hafiz Muhammad Idrees. The activists raised anti-American slogans and blocked the road for quite some time.
Mr Liaquat Baloch said the attack of America on Afghanistan in the dead of the night was a cowardly act, targeting only civilian settlements and scores of innocent people including women and children.
He said this was the worst kind of state terrorism. The JI leader apprehended that after Afghanistan, Pakistan’s nuclear installations and jihad in Kashmir would be the next American targets. The OIC must play a role instead of watching the situation as a silent spectator, he said. He linked the change in army’s set up to a change in Pakistan’s foreign and defence policies.
The activists of the Islami Jamiat Talaba took out a procession from the Punjab University’s Old Campus to Regal. They carried banners and placards and raised anti-America slogans, and criticized the Pakistan government for supporting America.
IJT head Mushtaq Ahmad Khan said by attacking Afghanistan America had signed its own death warrants and supporting America was anti-Islam. He said it had become the duty of young people and students to play their role to protect Islam.
The IJT workers also burnt an American flag, amidst an announcement that demonstrations would continue to be held in the country to show solidarity with Taliban.
A procession was taken out from Garhi Shahu’s Jamia Naeemia after a Jihad conference there. The procession which peacefully culminated near the Lahore Press Club was led by Allama Ahmad Ali Kasuri, Mufti Abdul Qayyum Hazarvi, Dr Sarfraz Naeemi and Gen Hamid Gul (retired).
The precisionists carried placards and banners and raised slogans against America, and criticized the Pakistan government for supporting it.
Small groups of workers of religious parties also held demonstrations at Shahalam Gate, Cantt and Ghazi Road. Some lawyers also demonstrated on the Lahore High Court premises under M D Tahir. They burnt effigies of Mr Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair and raised slogans against them for attacking Afghanistan.