Supporters of Ahle Sunnat Wal-Jmaat chant slogans during a protest in Quetta on November 22, 2013. PHOTO: AFP
Sectarian clashes had erupted in Rawalpindi last week as an Ashura procession passed along its predetermined route. As the clash intesified, the markets in Raja Bazaar were set ablaze by unknown men. The severity of clashes had prompted authorities to impose curfew in Rawalpindi.
On Friday, schools, shops and restaurants were closed in the city while the roads bore a deserted in both Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
A heavy contingent of police, paramilitary rangers and soldiers was deployed in Rawalpindi, along with other major cities including Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and Multan.
In Rawalpindi, Maulana Ahmad Ludhianvi, who leads Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) organisation said: "We know how to fight against enemies of Islam and we are fighting against them."
In Quetta, up to 2,000 activists gathered to protest. The protest was led by local ASWJ leader Ramzan Mengal.
Similar scenes were seen in Peshawar, where some 4,000 people answered ASWJ's call at the city's Shobha Bazaar. Protests were also seen in Lahore.
In Karachi, as many as 15,000 people attended an ASWJ rally.
Despite the show of emotion during the protests, they culminated peacefully with no damage to property reported.
Shops, restaurants and petrol stations in the city along the protest routes remained closed and roads were deserted amid a heavy deployment of police and paramilitary troops, an AFP reporter said.
Police have used shipping containers to block certain roads in the capital Islamabad and Rawalpindi, while the approaches to the diplomatic enclave, which houses foreign embassies, were sealed.
Umar Hayat Lalika, regional police chief for Rawalpindi told reporters that police had arrested 24 suspects including a few police officials, adding they were being interrogated.
COMMENTS (13)
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Look at the protesters you can find youth poverty,zeal ,deprivation, illiteracy, ignorant of the contemporary world comforts , living in the illusionary paradise of mullahs and dominating educated elites of cities.This seems the future of our country specially with this type of economy, foreign policy, state patronisation, and I remember the fiction infected city of film "resident evil"which was quarantined by rest of world and those who travel abroad already feels it.
@Happy: What about Iran?.....
all of them belonging to a particular province..they are not originally from Karachi..
@Raja: But the brains of most of the commentors here are too narrow to acknowledge this.
@Mirza: Sunnis were at the forefront in condemning the acts of LeJ on innocent Hazaras, not covering up them like most of the Shia social media recently..... @Syed See, thats what I am talking about. We will have to let go this hypocracy and call a crime a crime regardless of it being committed by any sect.
@Syed: Brainwash Illitrate people? Even the educated people on both side harbor hate against each other. The hatred driven between both sects is driven by the self-rightious belief that other sect is takfiri and has little to do with education. Education is a catalyst, it can make a good person excellent and a bad person as worse.
What a shame that when hundreds of Hazara Shia are butchered there is no outrage in our Sunni Muslims. Nobody comes on the road against the ethnic cleansing of smaller sects. They are very active when they suffer even the loss of a few people. Why do these same people object to Israelis who do not care about the loss of Palestinian lives but do not want to lose one of their own as if their lives are more precious than others?
one hardliner sect killing other hardliner sect people. then the other attacking the first so on and so forth. then both show man power in form of large gatherings and rallies. the government should not allow any types of gatherings outside the places of worships in the cities. keep them out of town and let them goto anywhere out side the cities.
This is what happens when you let mullahs go wild...
They start calling each other kafir, kill minorities and take money from Iran and Saudi to fight their proxy wars in our country...
Enough...
We want our Pakistan back - Pakistan Zindabad
It should be a crime to brainwash illiterate people and turn them into fanatics. Why do our politicians and security keep tolerating people like Ludhianvi and Malik Ishaq?
I can bet that since this is only one angle of them...their other angle will be apparent soon-very soon.
nation of zealots and lunatics ! true stone age people.