Twelve people were killed on Friday in the bloodiest day yet in protests that have raged across Afghanistan while hundreds of activists also took to the streets in Pakistan demanding leaders to resign over the desecration of copies of the Holy Quran at a Nato military base.
Up to 300 people blocked the main Grand Trunk road in Peshawar, stomped on and set fire to US flags, and kicked and beat the dummy representing America with sticks while it was burning. “The ugly face of America has been revealed with the desecration of the Holy Quran,” a banner read.
In Islamabad, the general secretary of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) told the crowd that the Islamic world should review its relations with US.
In Karachi, hundreds of activists of the banned outfit Jamaatud Dawachanted “Death to America”.
The demonstrators held up banners, one of which said: “The defeated Americans are bound to bite dust in their war against Allah and His Book.”
“We don’t accept Obama’s apology. The Muslims don’t accept his apology, as it is nothing but a farce,” said Naveed Qamar, the head of JuD in Karachi.
Foreign ministry condemnation
The foreign ministry strongly condemned the burning, stressing that the “utterly irresponsible and reprehensible things” do not happen again. “On behalf of the government and the people of Pakistan, we condemn in strongest possible terms the desecration of Holy Quran in Afghanistan,” foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul Basit told reporters.
US President Barack Obama apologised for the incident on Thursday, which the Afghan presidency blamed on a US officer at the Bagram airbase.
Rising death toll
In Afghanistan, at least 24 people, including two American soldiers, have been killed in three days of furious anti-US protests.
On Friday, armed protesters took refuge in shops in Kabul, where they killed one demonstrator, said police at the scene. In another Kabul rally, police said they were unsure who fired the shots that killed a second protester. Seven more protesters were killed in the western province of Herat, two more in eastern Khost province and one in the relatively peaceful northern Baghlan province, health and local officials said.
Meanwhile, German forces in northern Afghanistan have withdrawn early from a base in Taluqan because of anti-US unrest over the burning of Qurans, an army spokesman said on Friday.
Around 50 German soldiers pulled out of the base on Thursday after about 300 people had demonstrated peacefully outside it, the spokesman said.
(With additional reporting by Saba Imtiaz in Karachi)
Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2012.
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@kicharmer Agreed.. The Godhra train burning (Hindi: गोधरा कांड) was an incident that occurred on 27 February 2002 in which 58 people were killed in a train attack at Godhra railway yard in the Indian state of Gujarat .Most of the people killed were Hindu pilgrims and activists returning from the holy city of Ayodhya.Victims included many women and children. Investigations and court rulings on the case later established that the fire was caused by arson by radical Islamist mobs.This incident triggered communal Hindu-Muslim riots. why should we always keep quite.
@klcharmer: and what about Babri mosque incident??
@klcharmer: I still say you dont know anything about different faiths
AS I said, for Muslims only Quran is not respectable, we Muslims consider Jess, Noah,Abraham,David Alahysalam as respectable as Muhammad(SAW) so if some Muslim ridicule Bible etc then he is not following Islam.
Stop giving lame reasons of justifications of Gujrat Massacare; you are being a devil's advocate and showing your Indian Pan.
@Naushad: Don't forget the Gujarat Massacre was started when a group of muslims attacked a train which was carrying hindus who were returning from a pilgrimage and killed all of them including children and women, so the hindus, retaliated. Do not expect hindus to just keep quiet everytime muslims attack them and kill their women and children. If the muslims had not attacked the train, the Gujarat incident would never have happened.
@Adnan: I think it is you who do not know the ABC of any religion including your own religion. Are you saying that muslims all over the world who claim to be muslims are not muslims since they did not protest against the disrespect and desecration of other religions. I have never seen any muslims protesting when muslims destroy bibles or idols of other religions. Instead they all rejoice. So then you only have to blame your fellow muslims for the disrespect of islam by people of other faiths as they see muslims disrespecting other faiths all the time and retaliate.
The Quran is the most important book of the world and it deals with the every aspects of life. The Quran is sending many centuries ago by ALLAH and in it ALLAH has told us that it is a perfect guider for all human for a successful life. Quran plays a vital role in the other aspects of life like in science, economic, social, innovation, progress but just there is need of Teaching Quran then all the aspects should be in your hand it is easy for you to learn, to act, and to teach. If you do not do this within this period, you have let an opportunity pass you by that will never show itself again.
@Adnan: "Now where is so called Civil Society?"
in the loo... straining on a bad case of intellectual and moral constipation :P~
@klcharmer: Did the video (about the Muslim woman breaking hindu idol) say when it was shot - BEFORE or AFTER the Gujrat massacre of Muslims when stomachs of pregnant Muslim women WERE cut open while they were alive; and their fetuses pulled and crushed with rocks; when women of all ages were gang-raped on streets by hindu thugs just because the women were Muslims?
@Trefngrs:
Comparing a religious book with a Flag? Salute to your stupidity
What would they think if we killed some of them for burning our flag.
@klcharmer:
And problem with you is that you don't know the ABC of any religion let alone Islam.
Any person who claims to be a Muslim can't be a Muslim if he does not respect Bible so saying Muslims burn Bibles is quite lame. Even if they did then they can't be called Muslims.
the burning of sacred books is unislamic and unlawful. those who burnt the bible in Gojra have gone astray. there is nothing in Islam that permits this.my appeal to all muslims, liberal or otherwise is to wake up and realize we are facing a severe attack from secular and atheist non-muslims who wish to wipe out Islam so they can go about destroying their and other people's lives and after lives. wake up and throw them out
@Ubaid: Please go to you tube and you will find lots of videos of muslims destroying holy book and statues of other religion. Why is that ok. Have you forgotten that the muslims destroyed the huge statues of buddha in Afganistan? There are many more such cases. Please get your facts right. Problem with muslims is that they only see and get offended of what others to do muslims, but they do not care what muslims to to others.
@Chilli: When the muslims, the taliban destroyed the buddist statues in Afganistan, the muslims kept quiet and were very happy about it. How come its ok for muslims to destroy, desecrate and disrespect other religions, why for others to do the same to islam is not ok. Muslims should stop being hypocrites. You want respect, you have to learn to give respect. There are many other instances where muslims have destroyed and disrespected other religions such as what I mentioned above, don't you think what the muslims woman did was wrong, to smash a statue of the hindu god Ganesh with a hammer, don't you think that hindus all over the world worship him?
@Ubaid: "Please make ur fact straight where u have find Muslims tearing other religious books apart??"
Blasphemy can be committed in several ways. Burning the holy book of another religion is one of the ways. Please examine Pakistani textbooks and see what they say about Hinduism. Teaching disrespect about another religion in school books is that not blasphemy? How many temples in Jammu and Ksahmir have been broken by Muslim jihadists. Is that not blasphemy? Forget Jammu and Kashmir, talk about Pakistan - what about breaking statues of Hindu deities in Pakistan. Is that not blasphemy?
No doubt the Western forces had made a terrible, terrible mistake. The burning of the Koran was an outrageious thing to happen to Islam. Now the person who saved a few copies from the pyre is hailed as a hero. That the fury is so wide spread must have to do with the crafty instrumentalisation of this incident for nefarious ends. And it is loathsome!
Now where is so called Civil Society?
At Johnchin
Please make ur fact straight where u have find Muslims tearing other religious books apart?? Why always Muslims b targeted and why their sentiments are to be treated like this.
I demand respect so give it and take it back. U cant expect respect when u dont give respect to ppl.
Does apology do any good when u have to repeat everything all over again?
Only 12 deaths for a printed holy Quran? The Taliban and Al Queda are better, they kill more.
I condemn the burnning of the quran by the americans.but the muslims should not kill innocent citizens.besides they dont take other religions serious how on earth will they like others to tolerate thier's.
US Should apologize to all Muslims because Quran burning is not just an isolated incident, as this is a book of Allah, followed and respected by Muslims worldwide. Silence of other Islamic countries is really strange.
Death to NATO-US
Whats the big fuss about the koran burning?While not excusing the action of the americans who by the way have appologised,i believe the true God has the strength to fight his battles and does not need us tiny humans to do it.Fighting in Gods name is utterly unacceptable as this tends to portray God as weak and needy.God says in his word that vengeance is his to repay.To me,any God who cannot fight his own battles is not worth being worshipped.
May Allah give me such power, that i will delete the name "u.s.a" from the history of world and insh.ALLAH i will do this
If only these people insist on following Quran in spirit and letter, instead of damaging themselves at this ugly American attitude, Pakistan and Afganistan would have gone to places.