MNA Fazle Karim of the Sunni Ittehad Council condemned the mainstream political parties on Friday for not joining the protests against the anti-Islam movie and urged the public to not vote for them in the next elections.
He was speaking to an Ishq-i-Rasool Day rally on The Mall.
Karim said the ruling parties could not be trusted with representing the sentiments or interests of the people. He said the parties were silent on the issue because they were afraid of losing the United States’ support for their governments.
He demanded a joint session of the parliament to evolve a strategy for dealing with any insult to Islam.
The SIC chief said the provincial government was guilty of blasphemy when it demolished six shrines that fell in the route of the Bus Rapid Transit System in Lahore.
He condemned the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Conference for not taking effective measures on the issue of blasphemy. He said the UN should adopt a resolution condemning blasphemy against religious faiths and their founders.
He ended his speech with an appeal to the protesters to return to their homes peacefully.
Jamat-i-Islami Ameer Syed Munawar Hasan said demonstrations against the anti-Islam movie would have remained peaceful had the president and the federal cabinet joined the protesters on the streets.
He was speaking to a gathering after Friday prayers at Mansoora.
Hasan said ‘the West’ was forcing its civilisation on rest of the world. He said those who resisted this faced military action.
Hasan said the government’s decision to observe an Ishq-i-Rasool Day was a welcome change but it was not an adequate response. He demanded that the government summon the United States ambassador and press him to prosecute Pastor Terry Jones and the film-maker who released the anti-Islam motive. He said the ambassador should be expelled from the country if he failed to do so.
Allama Amin Mashhadi, a leader of the Majlis Wahdat Muslimeen, said the Muslims were united in the case of guarding the honour of the Holy Prophet. He said all sects were together in protesting against the film-maker who had produced and released the movie. He condemned the US government for not taking any action against him.
Rallies were also taken out to mark the day by the Sunni Tehrik, the Almi Jamiat Ahle Hadith, the Jamatud Dawa, the Jamat Ahle Sunnat Pakistan, and the Tehrik Dawat-i-Haq.
These rallies started after Friday prayers from various areas of the city and converged at The Mall where leaders of these organisations delivered speeches.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 22nd, 2012.
Correction: In an earlier version of the article, the term "return to their homes peacefully" was incorrectly written as "return to their homes without peacefully". The error has been rectified.
COMMENTS (4)
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Growing up I was taught that Anger is Haraam
Was I taught wrong?
" Syed Munawar Hasan said demonstrations against the anti-Islam movie would have remained peaceful had the president and the federal cabinet joined the protesters on the streets."
Mr Munawar Hasan aka Hudood Ordinance aka Martyr Osama's arguments are always invaluable pearls somewhere deep deep down from the sea of knowledge he carries in his heart. People as idiot as me can never fathom or digest or make sense of them as we lack all human intelligence.
September 21, 2012 day in Pakistan is a compressed history as well as the future of Islam
''return to their homes without peacefully''
For heavens sake, hire a proofreader...