Iqbal Latif
Citizens of Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Thursday staged a peaceful protest against the violence of religious extremists who have been, trying to force their version of Islam on other people for sometime now.
“Where’s the writ of the state?” asked the biggest and the most prominent placard at the protest. The protest was a mix of women and extremists who had also launched the move to enforce sharia with seminary women in the lead.
Strategic Analyst Shirin Mazari led the protestors who gathered barely a kilometre away from Constitution Avenue and walked up to the roundabout in front of Parliament House.
The protestors shouted anti-mullah slogans like “mullahgardi band karo” and “no dialogue with terrorists” as they began their march. They also raised slogans against the government for its continued reluctance to act against fundamentalists who had been challenging the writ of the state.
Thousands of Lahoris on Thursday participated in a rally organised by the Women’s Action Forum (WAF) against religious extremism and Talibanisation.
Pakistani human rights activists take part in a rally in Lahore, Pakistan, Thursday, April 19, 2007. Chanting “down with Talibanization,” hundreds of human rights activists marched through Pakistani cities, urging the government to rein in clerics who have launched an unofficial anti-vice campaign in the capital. The banner in reads: “Reject the religious extremism.”
The City District Government (CDGL) relaxed Section 144 to allow the rally to take place on The Mall. Extraordinary security arrangements were made for the rally. Traffic on one lane of The Mall was suspended for the duration of the rally, which started from the Lahore High Court (LHC) at 2pm and concluded at Faisal Chowk.
Many civil society bodies, non-government organisations, minority organisations, political parties, media organisations, lawyers and traders participated in the rally. The theme of the rally was : “Say No to Talibanisation, Say No to Religious Extremism.”
Hundreds of people gathered at General Post Office Chowk about an hour before the rally. Thousands joined the rally at different points on The Mall.
Activists of the Joint Action Committee for People’s Rights (an alliance of over 30 NGOs), the Women Desk Lahore Diocese Church of Pakistan, the Pakistan People’s Party, the Pakistan Labour Party, the Lahore High Court Bar Association, the Lahore Bar Association, the Punjab Bar Council, trade unions, the South Asian Free Media Association, the Punjab Union of Journalists, the Lahore Press Club, and students from various educational institutions attended the rally.
The participants chanted slogans such as ‘mullahism murdabad’, ‘lay kay rahin gay azadi’, ‘say no to religious extremism’, ‘badamaash mulalh murdabad’, ‘mullah raj murdabad’, ‘live and let live’, ‘aab raj karay gi khalq-e-Khuda jo mein bhi ho aur tum bhi ho’, ‘mullah-military alliance murdabad’ and ‘khud sakhta shariah na manzoor’.
Traders on Hall Road welcomed the rally by displaying banners on shops and plazas inscribed with ‘stop blackmailing and exploiting traders in the name of Islam’ and ‘we condemn mullahs’ operation against CD shops’.
Speaking at the rally, Asma Jahangir, chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said that the military-backed government was using mullahs to exploit the people in the name of Islam.
She said that the government was defaming burqa-clad students of the Jamia Hafsa instead of exposing the military-backed mullahs who were behind the scene.
“The people of Pakistan are well aware of the mullah- military alliance,” she added.
She said that there could not be democracy in Pakistan unless the military stopped supporting mullahs.
She said that the writ of the government could not be established until mullahs were stopped from exploiting the people. “Human rights activists will continue their struggle against the military dictatorship and extremism,” she added.
Pakistan People’s Party Punjab chapter president Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the Jamia Hafsa issue had been devised by the government to win public support.
Nighat Saeed Khan
(Women’s Action Forum):
President General Pervez Musharraf is following the policies of General Zia-ul-Haq by supporting extremists. WAF has taken a stand against Talibanisation to protect people from religious extremists.
Fareeda Shaheed
(Women’s Action Forum):
the government is supporting religious extremists in Pakistan to gain public support. Mullahs are promoting the wrong image of Islam by supporting burqa-clad seminary students of Jamia Hafsa.
Farooq Tariq
(Pakistan Labour Party):
The military-backed government should withdraw the aid given to seminaries to improve their standards. Mullahs should eradicate poverty from the country instead of forcing people to follow their agenda.
Salima Hashmi
(Women’s Action Forum):
Providing rights to the people is necessary for peace and stability in the country. Conflicts can be resolved by limiting the involvement of ‘hidden hands’ in matters of national importance.
Ayra Inderyas
(Church of Pakistan):
The minorities believe in interfaith harmony and condemn terrorism in the name of religion. The Lal Masjid stand-off is a manifestation of religious extremism and the Christian community is against it.
Rallies against ‘extremism, obscurantism and religious bigotry’ and the veil cladded girls..
Thousands of moderate opponents of religious extremists on Thursday joined rallies in several Pakistani cities protesting against alleged ‘terrorism’ of citizens by radical students of an Islamabad mosque.
Chanting anti-extremist slogans, members of civil society, human rights and women’s groups demanded tough government action against administrators at the notorious Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, and adjoining madrassa religious school which is trying to enforce Taliban-style law in the capital.
A procession of chanting demonstrators marched to Islamabad’s parliament building and presidential palace, waving banners and placards that read ‘Terrorism is Unacceptable’ and ‘No Coercion in Religion.’
Similar rallies took place in the cities of Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar.
‘We have been watching with anger and frustration the terrorism being inflicted on the residents of Islamabad by madrassa students,’ social worker Naeem Mirza said in the capital.
‘Enough is enough now, we demand that the government act immediately to end the intimidation of the citizens at the hands of extremists,’ he added.
Pakistani human rights activists take part in a rally in Lahore, Pakistan, Thursday, April 19, 2007. Chanting “down with Talibanization,” hundreds of human rights activists marched through Pakistani cities, urging the government to rein in clerics who have launched an unofficial anti-vice campaign in the capital. The banner in reads: “Reject the religious extremism.”
Many of the 11,000 students at the mosque and madrassa have in recent weeks waged a ‘morality campaign,’ detaining alleged prostitutes and harassing female drivers of vehicles for ‘un-Islamic’ behaviour. Owners of CD and DVD stores have also been threatened and intimidated for spreading what the students regard as obscenity.
Tens of thousands of people also gathered last Sunday in the largest city of Karachi to protest the enforced anti-vice campaign by the fundamentalists.
Meanwhile, clerics at the Red Mosque have set up a self-declared Islamic court on its territory, further challenging the authority of the government of President Pervez Musharraf, which says it will seek a negotiated solution to the stand-off.
The leaders of the students have threatened to carry out suicide attacks if authorities attempt to take action against them.
But protesters Thursday rejected a conciliatory approach toward the radical clerics and students. ‘They will only be encouraged by the flexibility shown by the government,’ academic and rally participant Dr Sherin Mazari said. Musharraf this week named ‘extremism, obscurantism and religious bigotry’ as the greatest internal threats to the country.
“We are authorised” … female seminary students demand the release of two teachers and two students arrested after the kidnapping of an alleged brothel owner.
iqbal.latif@gmail.com