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Pakistanis Protest Crackdown on Madrassahs
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US flags were born and Musharraf was called "dog". (Reuters)
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ISLAMABAD,
July 22, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Thousands of
Pakistanis took to the street Friday, July 22, to protest against the
crackdown on the country's madrassahs (religious schools), in
connection with the July 7 London blasts.
The
rallies in cities across the country came on the Muslim day of prayer
as security forces said they made almost 100 more arrests overnight,
and after President Pervez Musharraf announced new measures against
"militants", reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
nationwide protest call came from Pakistan's main six-party religious
alliance, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, in the wake of the arrests of more
than 300 suspected "militants" in raids on religious sites.
"Musharraf
has resumed the crackdown on religious seminaries and arrests of
Islamic scholars and students to please Washington and London,"
the MMA said in an earlier statement, condemning the "global
conspiracy against Islam".
Musharraf
Under Fire
Some
1,000 protesters took to the streets of the capital Islamabad and the
southern port of Karachi, while other rallies were also staged in
Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and Quetta.
While
most protests were noisy but peaceful, youths in the capital smashed
and set ablaze a police motorcycle and attacked a police kiosk with
sticks.
"Down
with Musharraf -- dog, dog," shouted emotional protesters
marching from a central Islamabad mosque that was raided by police
earlier this week, AFP said.
"Down
with his anti-Islam policies. A friend of the US is a traitor."
Musharraf,
under international pressure to act against extremists, told the
nation in a televised address late Thursday that he would tighten the
reins on Islamic schools in a bid to stamp out what he termed
"militancy" and those preaching hate.
In
the eastern city of Lahore some 300 activists Friday afternoon rallied
at the Mansoora headquarters of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan's largest
religious party and a key member of the MMA.
"We
condemn the blasts in London, but the world still does not know how
9/11 happened and who carried out the 7/7 blast," JI deputy chief
Liaquat Baloch said in his address.
"We
will not abandon our madrassahs and the basis of our civilization, and
we urge global powers not to support dictators."
Pakistan
has come under increased international pressure to crack down on
so-called "Islamic militants" after it emerged some of the
July 7 bombers, British Muslims of Pakistani descent, had recently
visited the South Asian country.
The
over 300 arrests have been made during raids on private houses,
mosques and madrassahs which are allegedly believed to have
"influenced the London bombers".
The
Islamic opposition in Pakistan is opposed to Musharraf's support for
the war on terrorism and have held protests before against his policy.
Preemptive
Address
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The rallies were held across Pakistan. (Reuters)
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Late
Thursday, and in what seemed to be a preemptive step to abort the
Friday rallies, Musharraf made a televised address to the nation that
focused on the crackdown after the London bombings.
In
the address, Musharraf called for a "holy war against preachers
of hate" and announced steps to rein in what he termed
"militant Islamic schools and groups".
He
added all madrassahs must register with authorities by December.
According
to British diplomats in Islamabad, none of those detained in Pakistan
had anything to do with the London bombings.
Within
hours of the speech, security forces again raided madrassahs.
"During
raids overnight in all the four provinces, around 90 more suspected
militants have been rounded up and the number of people in preventive
detention is more than 300 now," said an interior ministry
official monitoring the campaign.
Raids
targeted shops selling "hate material" in print, audio and
video form, and both police and intelligence services were instructed
to arrest anyone inciting violence during sermons at Friday prayers,
the official said.
"It
is the firm resolve of the government and we will not spare anyone
found to be breaching the law," he added, according to AFP.
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