ISLAMABAD, 15 February 2006 — Thousands rampaged yesterday through two Pakistani cities to protest cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) burning buildings housing a hotel, banks and a KFC and breaking windows at a Holiday Inn and a Pizza Hut. At least two people were killed in the worst of the violence in the eastern city of Lahore, which intelligence officials suspected was incited by outlawed militant groups. The provincial government assembly building was also set on fire.
At the National Assembly it was agreed in Monday evening’s session that major political parties including Pakistan People’s Party, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz Group), many small religious parties, workers’ associations, lawyers’ associations and students’ unions were to stage a peaceful march up to the Diplomatic Enclave yesterday.
The multiparty parliamentarians marched peacefully led by their leaders to mark their protest. “We decided to remain peaceful because emotional outrage only helps anti-Islam powers,” said member of National Assembly Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan.
But what followed was all chaos as hundreds of students stormed through the main entrance of the tightly guarded enclave that houses most foreign embassies in the capital, brandishing sticks and throwing stones. They were soon dispersed with tear gas and no foreigners were hurt. The unruly protests and deaths marked an alarming spike in the unrest in Pakistan over the cartoons.
In Lahore, the main commercial hub in Pakistan’s most prosperous Punjab province, about 15,000 joined the protest organized by a little-known religious group and one of the main madrasas in the city. It was also supported by associations representing local traders who shuttered businesses and most markets in the city yesterday.
Witnesses said a minority of protesters in small groups ran amok down streets lined with old colonial buildings and shopping malls that sprouted during an economic boom. Television footage showed at least one rioter firing a hand gun.
Security forces fired live rounds into the air, but failed to stop protesters from setting fire to the Punjab provincial assembly and burning down four buildings housing a hotel, two banks, a KFC restaurant and the office of Norwegian cell phone company, Telenor. Two cinemas in the city — the center of Pakistan’s ailing movie industry — were also torched.
Witnesses said rioters also damaged over 200 cars, dozens of shops — many locally owned. Windows were broken at a Holiday Inn hotel, and Pizza Hut and McDonald’s restaurants.
A security guard shot and killed two protesters trying to force their way into a bank, said Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao. At least 11 other people were injured in the riots.
A security official said that members of the outlawed militant group Sipah-e-Sahaba and others from Jamaat Al-Dawat — which is linked to the outlawed Laskhar-e-Taiba group — were present among the rioters, and were trying to turn the Prophet cartoon furor against President Pervez Musharraf’s government.
“People belonging to outlawed militant groups participated in today’s rally, and some of them attacked public and private property,” said the official who requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to media. “They were the ones who stirred up violence.” Sherpao also said that some “miscreants” were present among the protesters, but refused to give details. He accused organizers of failing to honor a promise to keep their rally orderly.
In Islamabad, between 1,000 and 1,500 people, mostly students, rushed through the main entrance of the diplomatic enclave, smashing street signs and the window of a bank. US and British Embassy staffers were confined to their compounds until police reinforcements with batons and shields used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, who shouted “Death to America” and other slogans.
From the Diplomatic Enclave 100 students wearing their college uniforms were rounded up. The police immediately initiated action to overcome the disorder. More policemen were called by the deputy commissioner and indiscriminate baton charge started.
Hard-line cleric Hafiz Hussain Ahmad said, “We have come to the doors of the embassies to take our voice to the ambassadors. There is anger in the Islamic world. If they do not listen, their problems will increase.” More protests are planned in Pakistan this week.
— With input from agencies
