‘Our silence might be taken for our weakness

Various organisations rally to condemn the desecration of the Holy Quran.

KARACHI:

Various religious and political organisations in the city are making sure their protests against the US pastor are recorded. They do not want the US to think that Muslims are weak.

According to a statement issued by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), “This issue should not be taken up by just the political and religious parties but the civil society must also wake up and take a stand. Our silence might be misconstrued as our weakness”.

The JUI has announced a strike on Friday and warned the world “not to play with the emotions of the Muslim Ummah”.

Meanwhile, the student wing of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) is also planning a protest against the desecration of the Holy Quran. Insaf Students Federation Karachi general secretary Arsalan T Ghumman said that the party “will definitely” organise a massive rally in the coming days. Members of the PTI took to the streets in Lahore, Multan and other cities as well.

Hundreds of young men belonging to Anjuman-e-Naujawanan-e-Islam (ANI), the student wing of Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP), gathered around Memon Masjid in Bolton Market on Friday.

The ANI members shouted slogans against the United Nations, calling it an “escort” of the United States. “The silence of the UN on this issue is a criminal offence,” they chanted in unison.

Representatives of the JUP were also present and Tariq Mehboob, one of their prominent speakers, said that the US conspiracy to provoke Muslims “will not bring good results in the future”.

Shah Alam, one of the party members, said that by committing this act, the US has “jeopardised the peaceful unity among many religions all over the world”.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2011.