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Second rally against Jamia Hafsa in less than a week

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Growing anger against the clerics of Lal Masjid was in evidence for the second time in less than a week as a throng of mostly women protesters gathered at China Chowk on Monday to demand the closure of Jamia Hafsa.

The protestors gathered at the chowk and shouted slogans against religious extremists before rallying to the Parliament House. Undeterred by the midday heat, they shouted slogans like “Mullah-Military itehad murdabad” and “Mullah raj nahain chaley ga” and branded US President George W Bush and President Gen Pervez Musharraf as “terrorists”.

Police, including female personnel, tried to stop the protestors from approaching the Parliament building when they reached Parade Square but the people would not be deterred and continued their march. They held placards and banners with a host of messages against religious extremists trying to impose their brand of Islam on others. The most prominent banner stated, “Stop barging into people’s homes,” an obvious reference to the recent abduction of three women and a six-month-old child by madrassa girls.

The students of Jamia Hafsa and Fareedia madrassa recently kidnapped Shamim Akhtar along with her daughter, daughter-in-law and a six-month-old child, beat up the adults and freed them only after they sought public forgiveness. “The extremists at Lal Masjid think that prostitution is the only wrong being done in this country. Why are they blind to the other, worse corruptions taking place?” asked Aurat Foundation’s Naeem Mirza. He said the state was promoting lawlessness by not acting against the “Taliban” operating in the heart of the capital. “No one has the right to take the law into his own hands,” he added.

The protestors said the government was preaching “enlightened moderation” while allowing dangerous religious extremism to flourish right under its nose. They termed the illegal occupation of a children’s library by Jamia Hafsa students, the kidnapping of Akhtar, the patrols by madrassa students, the burning of CDs and DVDs and the imposition of “Shariah” in the Lal Masjid as fascist steps.

The rally participants condemned these acts and completely rejected enforcing religion in such a manner. They claimed that extremism in Islamabad and elsewhere in the country was a result of the government’s “thoughtless” and “dictatorial” policies.

The rally, dominated by women, ended at the Parliament House amid slogans of “Mullah Musharraf hai hai” and “Jamia Hafsa dramabazi bund karo”. One of the protesting women said the growing extremism in the capital was the result of the government’s refusal to act. “These people know that they can go about terrorising everyone in the name of religion as no actions seems to be forthcoming against them,” she said.

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