QUETTA, March 21: Complete shutter down strike was observed here and in other cities of Balochistan on Friday and provincial minister Hafiz Hussain Ahmed Shoradi led a protest demonstration staged by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal to condemn the attack on Iraq by the United States and its allies.
All markets, shops and business establishments remained close throughout the day on the call of the MMA and traders’ organizations to express solidarity with the people of Iraq.
Reports from other areas of the province say the traders responded positively to the strike call of the MMA.
Thousands of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam workers and students of seminaries gathered in front of the main mosque at Mezeem Chowk after Friday prayers.
The protesters led by the minister and National Assembly member Maulana Noor Mohammad of the JUI went to the Ayub Stadium where the leaders spoke to them.
The protestors holding banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the US, President Bush and the war marched on the roads of the provincial capital.
The speakers demanded that the country should cut diplomatic relations with the US and urged the rulers of Muslim countries to seize the American embassies and forfeit its assets.
Provincial Information and Local Bodies Minister Hussain Ahmed Shoradi deplored the government’s policy regarding Iraq and said it should clarify its position in this regard.
He criticized US President George Bush and United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair for their aggressive attitude towards Iraq and other Muslim countries and said history would not forgive them for their aggression against innocent Iraqi people.
Noor Mohammad condemned the US and allied forces’ attack on Iraq and said reports suggested that innocent people, including women, children and senior citizens, were killed in the bombardment and missile attacks on Baghdad and Basra.
He criticized the role of the Organization of Islamic Conference, the Arab countries and the government and blamed them for supporting the US and its allies. He said the OIC had not adopted a joint stand on the issue, which paved the way for the US to launch the attack. “The government’s stand is not acceptable to the people. It must support Iraq as the people are it,” he said. He said the Muslim world should unite and use its resources against anti-Islam forces.
Former senior provincial minister Maulana Amir Zaman, Mufti Abdul Sattar Chashti, Maulana Anwarul Haq Haqani and Maulana Abdul Wahid also spoke.
They demanded that the government should stop facilitating the US in the country allowing its forces to use airports.
They announced their support to President Saddam Hussein.
The protesters burnt the an effigy of President Bush.
The Jamiat Talaba-i-Islam staged a protest demonstration in front of the press club. They chanted anti-US and anti-war slogans and burnt a US flag.