Rallies denounce Israeli atrocities

Various ideological groups come together to condemn genocide against Palestinians

KARACHI:

Protest rallies denouncing Israeli atrocities in Gaza persisted on Sunday. Different schools of thought condemned Israeli atrocities from their respective forums and tried to awaken the conscience of the rulers of the Muslim countries.

A protest march, organised by Nasiran-e-Palestine, spanned from Schon Circle Clifton to Boat Basin under the banner of “Unity of Ummah and Defense of Palestine.” Hundreds of individuals, regardless of sectarian differences, actively participated in the march, including a significant number of women, children, the elderly, and school students.

During the rally, a substantial exhibition spotlighted the suffering of oppressed Palestinians in Gaza, drawing widespread public attention. Addressing the rally, the renowned religious scholar Allama Hassan Zafar Naqvi emphasised that it is now crucial for nations worldwide to take decisive actions against the cruelties committed by the United States and Israel; otherwise, history will not forgive them. Additionally, Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ) organised the “Tahafuz-e-Qibla Awal Palestine Solidarity March” to show their support for Palestinians and opposition to Israeli aggression.

Read: Thousands rally in Islamabad for Gaza

Thousands of workers from various districts in Karachi congregated at the Baloch Colony Bridge on Shahrae-Faisal, forming caravans under the leadership of ASWJ Central President Allama Aurangzeb Farooqui, proceeded to the Karachi Press Club (KPC) in a grand procession. Farooqi, addressing the participants outside KPC, decried the targeting of hospitals and refugee camps as evidence of Israel’s brutality.

Other ASWJ members addressing the rally called upon the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to convene a meeting and dispatch the armies of Islamic countries to Palestine.

Meanwhile, Maulana Amir Abdullah Farooqi, President of Markazi Jamaat Ahle Hadith Pakistan, Sindh, decried the silence of Western nations, human rights organisations, and the United Nations, asserting that they displayed bias and were complicit in the oppression of Palestinian Muslims, with their hands stained in the blood of innocent Palestinian children.

Furthermore, Ameer Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi lamented that the Muslim Ummah had become silent spectators in the Palestinian issue, as those in power hesitated to speak out for the oppressed people of Gaza due to the fear of losing IMF dollars.

Also read: Grave breaches of humanitarian law in Gaza

In a separate development, Qari Muhammad Usman, a prominent leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), announced that the “Toofan Al-Aqsa” and “Sindh Peace March,” organised by JUI-F Sindh, are scheduled to take place in Karachi on November 2.

The event will feature Palestinian and Hamas leaders, along with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman, as speakers. Qari Usman urged the leaders of 57 Muslim countries to declare Jihad against Israel as the only way to end the suffering of oppressed Palestinians in Gaza.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2023.