KARACHI, 28 February 2006 — Hundreds protested against the cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) yesterday in two Pakistani cities where rallies have been banned.
About 100 lawmakers protested yesterday in Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province where rallies are not banned.
Arbab Ghulam Rahim, chief minister of Sindh, led the protesters as they walked down a street from the provincial legislature to the press club in Karachi.
About 60 opposition lawmakers in the Sindh Assembly staged a separate rally against the cartoons.
Dozens of policemen guarded the two separate rallies but there was no violence.
In Lahore, 200 women, some with their faces covered with veils, were outnumbered by hundreds of riot police during their one-hour protest outside the headquarters of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan’s largest Islamic group. Some chanted, “Punishment for blasphemer is death.”
In Multan, 500 rallied through the city center chanting “Allah-o-Akbar” or “God is Great” and “death to America.” They burned flags of the United States and Denmark — where the offensive cartoons were first published in September — as well as effigies of the Danish prime minister and a cartoonist.
They marched for several hundred meters before they were stopped by 300 police in riot gear. The protesters dispersed peacefully.
Elsewhere in the city, 300 lawyers staged a separate demonstration.
The protests came a day after police prevented a weekend rally in Lahore, where thousands of protesters went on a rampage two weeks ago, burning shops and fighting with police. Police arrested several supporters of another religious alliance yesterday as they tried to board a train in Lahore to go to a protest in Rawalpindi, a city near the capital Islamabad, said Azmat Ali, another police officer.
More protests were scheduled for Friday — a day before US President George W. Bush plans to visit Islamabad. Lately, the demonstrations have also become critical of the US and President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
The Danish drawings have appeared in publications around the world, provoking condemnation from Muslims.
Imran Hits Back After Arrest Over Cartoons
Pakistani cricket hero-turned politician Imran Khan yesterday hit out at his detention for taking part in a protest against cartoons of the Prophet.
Police arrested Imran in Lahore on Sunday amid attempts to foil opposition plans for a huge rally against the drawings.
“I was kept at a police station in Lahore. They released me after three hours’ detention,” Imran told AFP.
“Protest is the right of every citizen in a civilized society. The government has no authority to snatch this right.” Imran said his Movement for Justice party would now back further rallies in Pakistan, including a nationwide strike on March 3 called by an alliance of Islamic parties ahead of a visit by US President George W. Bush.
He said he would also support calls by the coalition, known as the Muttaheda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), for a rally in Karachi on March 5 and a strike in Quetta on March 7.
“These caricatures are part of an anti-Islam conspiracy,” Imran added. “If a debate on the Holocaust is a crime then the blasphemous cartoons against the Prophet must also be declared a crime.” The authorities banned Sunday’s rally in Lahore and police detained dozens of people, including MMA chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed and several other opposition leaders.
The MMA chief has been confined in his party headquarters in Lahore under a 30-day house arrest order but he left the building yesterday to address more than 800 women who staged a protest rally outside.
