Ishq-I-Rasool Day: LBA demands US trade embargo

LAHORE: The Lahore Bar Association (LBA) on Friday demanded that the government suspend all trade with the United States to register its protest against anti-Islam movie produced and released in that country. The LBA organised a rally from Aiwan-i-Adl to the Punjab Assembly on The Mall to mark the Ishq-i-Rasool Day (Love of the Prophet Day). LBA President Chaudhry Zolifqar Ali said he felt that organising such protests was not enough to prevent such incidents from happening in the future. He said the government should suspend all trade with the US until the latter apologised for the content of the movie. The LBA president also demanded that the government raise the matter at the United Nations and revise its foreign policy to deal with the possibility of such issues in the future. Other speakers at the rally too condemned the government for its ‘silence’. They also warned ‘anti-Islam elements’ against testing the patience of Muslims. They criticised the US for championing human rights on the one hand and hurting the feelings of Muslims on the other. They said protests would continue until the US tendered an apology to the Muslims. The protesters vowed to continue taking to the streets as long as actions aimed at hurting the religious feelings of Muslims continued.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2012.