At the centre of the city, the far right puts on a show of strength

Roads blocked off to MA Jinnah Road, shops, buildings spraypainted with slogans.

KARACHI:

In a city of nearly 20,000,000 people, if you want to put on a show of strength your best bet is to arrange a rally on the narrow MA Jinnah Road. It looks impressive. However, this does not dampen the fact that indeed, the Osama bin Laden supporters who protested here on Friday were in sufficiently large numbers.

The men may have come from different groups but they seemed to have the same philosophy. The names of the groups who coalesced at Tibet Centre for Tahafuz-e-Harmain and Difa-e-Bahrain rally reads like a laundry list of the religous far right: the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazlur Rehman group, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Samiul Haq group, the banned Jamat-ud-Dawa, Jamiat Ahle Hadith, Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith, Jamiat Ghurba-e-Ahle Hadith, Tehreek-e-Hurmat Rasool (pbuh), Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ), formerly known as Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Majlis Tahafuz-e-Khatam Nabuwat (pbuh), Binoria seminary Site and Binoria Town seminary.

“This is our strength and all of these people are Osama,” a veiled activist of the banned outfit told this newspaper, laughing. “On one hand, we are angry over the killing of Osama but at the same time we are grateful to America that has given the world millions of Osamas now.” This rally confirms that ‘jihad’ will continue in the world, against America, Israel and others, and you will hear good news soon, he said.

“Pehle goli badh mein baat,” they cried, merging the poetic and the political. “Lashkar-e-Jhangvi zindabad.” [First the bullet, then the banter, long live Lashkar-e-Jhangvi].

There were so many of them that when the rally ended, it took nearly half an hour for them to leave the venue. Men whizzed by motorcycle after motorcycle down the strip. They had marched along MA Jinnah Road in support of the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia and had vowed that they would not tolerate any “conspiracy” against the Saudi government. The rally was organised by proponents of the Deoband and Ahle Hadith schools of thought.

After Friday prayers, activists and supporters started gathering at Numaish Chowrangi and at around 3:30pm, they started to march towards Tibet Centre. They took almost one hour to cross the three- to four-kilometre distance. Tension engulfed the area at around 4:15pm when the procession echoed with gunshots. At least 25 rounds were emptied into the air, leading to a near stampede. But calm returned within ten to fifteen minutes. There were reports that some participants were injured and taken to Civil hospital. According to other reports, a suspect was caught red-handed but officials said that it was a plainclothes policeman. The leaders at the rally were quick to claim that a “terrorist” from another sect was to blame.

They carried flags and continuously chanted slogans against the US, the Abbottabad operation and other sects as well as in favour of Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabia and banned outfits and their leaders.

Rangers and police had blocked all roads leading to MA Jinnah Road without declaring alternative routes for traffic. Thousands of vehicles got stuck in arteries Even streets leading to the route of the central procession were closed off by barricades. The law enforcers appeared to only be helping with traffic while the activists handled their own security system.

Many of the young men saw it fit to mask their faces by winding scarves around so only their eyes showed. Many of them brandished sticks and anyone who looked like they weren’t part of the rally were told to leave.

And damage there was. Almost all the shutters and walls of shops and buildings along the route and even the roads were spraypainted with slogans, expressing their hate towards other sects and their love with their organisations, leaders, Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.

Mufti Usmani (JUI-F), Professor Mahmood-ul Hassan (THR), Engineer Naveed Qamar (JUD), Mufti Yousuf Qasoori (JAH), Maulana Aurangzaib Farooqi (ASWJ) and others spoke. The outlawed Sipah-e-Sahaba’s Maulana Masood-ur Rehman Usmani offered funeral prayers for SSP activist Masoodur Rehman who was killed earlier.

Later, a protest against the US was held by the Jamaat-e-Islami at Empress Market. It was a relatively smaller one with about 300 men. JI leaders including Professor Ghafoor Nadeem, Nasarullah Shajji, Younus Barai and Mohammad Hussain Mehnti condemned the Abbottabad operation and demanded an explanation.

Earlier, several smaller protests were held after prayers outside mosques.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2011.