On the appeal of Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan, the JI Sindh chapter held protests and organised rallies across the province against blasphemous caricatures of the Holy Prophet (SAWW) made by a Paris-based magazine Charlie Hebdo in France.
The rallies and protests were held after Friday prayer in all the cities in the province including Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Nawabshah, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, and Mirpur Khas. Decrying resolutions against the blasphemy were also passed in Friday lectures in mosques.
The protesters were holding placards and posters in their hands inscribed with dissenting slogans against the French magazine and the West. JI Sindh’s leaders from different districts and localities and other religious and political leaders addressed the rallies. They termed reprinting of blasphemous caricatures and the West’s calling it freedom of expression bigotry, arrogance and conspiracy to hurt sentiments of over 1.5 billion Muslims.
The question was raised that whether only blaspheming the Prophet was a freedom of expression. The protestors demanded from Muslim rulers to protest internationally against the deplorable act and prove themselves to be lover of the Holy Prophet (SAWW).
HYDERABAD: JI Provincial Ameer Dr Meraj-ul-Huda Siddiqui led the protest of hundreds of people in front of Hyderabad Press Club. Siddiqui said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should follow Turkey and expel the French ambassador by taking practical measures rather than lip service.
A meeting of Muslim leaders should be called in Makkah and Medina to represent Muslim Ummah against the blasphemous caricatures. A day should be observed for love of the Holy Prophet (SAWW), he said.
He criticised the government that it was busy in praising America rather than representing its people, and freezing of Jamaat-ud-Dawa’s bank accounts was a chain of the same.
SUKKUR: Thousands of people participated in the rally organised by JI led by JI Ameer Sukkur Maulana Hizbullah Jakhro.
JUI-F HOLDS PROTEST
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam- Fazl (JUI-F) Sindh workers also held a protest against blasphemous caricatures of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) which were published by Charlie Hebdo, a French magazine.
Thousands of people took part in the protest outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC) after the Jumma prayer. A large number of seminary students, youths, and provincial and district leadership of JIU-F participated in the protest. The participants were holding placards and banners inscribed with slogans against the French Magazine.
While speaking to the protesters, JUI-F Sindh Naib Ameer Qari Muhammad Usman said the blasphemy of the benefactor of humanity Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is an insult of the humanity. He said that Muslim countries should demand from the United Nations Organisation (UNO) to make strict laws against the blasphemy of prophets.
He condemned the indifference of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the rulers of Muslim countries. He warned the government of Pakistan that if it did not end diplomatic relation with France then JUI-F will hold a sit-in outside the French Consulate in Karachi.