Pakistanis protest offensive cartoons - Azaaditv.blogspot.com

P akistanis protest offensive cartoons Jamaat-ud-Dawa head Hafiz Saeed gestures while addressing supporters at a protest rally in Karachi... thumbnail 1 summary

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Pakistanis protest offensive cartoons

Jamaat-ud-Dawa head Hafiz Saeed gestures while addressing supporters at a protest rally in Karachi on January 25, 2015.

Jamaatud Dawa protests
In a separate protest led by Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, thousands of demonstrators rallied from Safari Park up to Sharae Quaideen. Saeed, while condemning Charlie Hebdo’s depiction of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) as ‘hate speech’ and ‘journalistic terrorism’, demanded that the UN ban blasphemy. Thousands marched yesterday in several Pakistani cities against the publication of offensive cartoons by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, two days after similar protests were held across southern Asia.

Those present at JI's demonstration called for the severing of diplomatic ties with France.

The largest rally was held yesterday in the financial center of Karachi by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Pakistan’s main Islamic party, and according to police estimates it was attended by some 25,000 people.
Protesters shouted slogans including “death to France”, “death to the blasphemers” and “(We are) ready to sacrifice life for Prophet Muhammad”, as anger remains potent over the magazine’s repeated depiction of the prophet.
Karachi has seen the biggest rallies in nationwide demonstrations against the magazine, whose Paris offices were attacked on January 7 by Islamist gunmen, killing 12 people.
Speaking at the protest, JI chief Siraj-ul-Haq demanded Pakistan call a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and urged the UN “to curb the menace of blasphemy” through changes to international law.
“In Paris hundreds of thousands of people came onto the streets to support Satan’s agents and in response to that hundreds and thousands of people have come out here on the streets for love of the prophet,” Haq said.
Another sizeable demonstration was held yesterday by Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the charitable arm of the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group which India accuses of the 2008 attacks on its financial capital Mumbai that claimed 166 lives.
Police estimated that at least 12,000 people attended the JuD rally against Charlie Hebdo in Karachi.
JuD chief Hafiz Mohamed Saeed, who is considered an abettor of Al Qaeda by the UN, asked protesters not only to boycott French products but to refuse to buy all European imports in protest against the magazine.
JI also held an anti-Charlie Hebdo rally in front of the provincial legislature in the eastern city of Lahore - capital of Pakistan’s politically influential and most populous province, Punjab - attended by some 5,000.
A few hundred also turned out for a street protest in the southwestern city of Quetta.
Under Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws, insulting the Prophet can carry the death penalty, and the country’s prime minister and parliament have strongly condemned the publication of the cartoons.

KARACHI: Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the city on Sunday in what was the country’s largest protest yet against the publication of blasphemous caricatures by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.

In a mammoth rally organised by the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), an estimated 30,000 protesters marched down University Road to Hasan Square, shouting slogans calling for the expulsion of the French ambassador and the severing of diplomatic ties with France. The charged-up demonstrators, who included men, women and children, held red, green and blue placards.

“I believe this is the biggest protest yet on the issue, with 25,000 to 30,000 people in attendance,” Aziz Bhatti SHO Abbas Kolachi told The Express Tribune. “We have made fool-proof security arrangements accordingly.”
As part of these security measures, the thoroughfare leading from Hasan Square to NIPA Chowrangi was blocked for commuters even before noon, although the rally was scheduled to begin at 3pm. Meanwhile, snipers were deployed on top of high-rise buildings around the venue.
At Hasan Square, an improvised stage was set up at the pedestrian bridge adjacent to the Karachi Expo Centre, from where JI chief Sirajul Haq addressed the protesters.
The JI social media team had also set up a camp where around 50 activists were busy live-tweeting the event. “The #JIShaneMustafaMarch hashtag is trending among the three most popular topics in Pakistan,” said Sohaib Rashid, a member of the team.
The rally drew support from other political parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Pakistan, Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, as well as the Karachi Bar Council, whose representatives joined the JI chief onstage.
“This rally demands that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif immediately call a meeting of all political and religious parties over the publication of these caricatures ,” said Haq, speaking to the protesters. “It is time to send a message to France and the rest of the Western world that we stand united against their support of blasphemy on the pretext of freedom of expression.”
The proposed all parties’ conference, added Haq, would unanimously call for an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation as well as the United Nations (UN) to make laws in order to protect the sanctity of all prophets and demand an unconditional apology from France.
Haq appealed to the citizens of Karachi and the rest of the country to stand together, in spite of political affiliations and differences, to strengthen the international protest movement against the Western world until France and other European countries apologized for the publication of the blasphemous sketches.