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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.
