Tens of Thousands March Across Pakistan Against Zionist Regime
KARACHI/ISLAMABAD (Dispatches) – Tens of thousands marched across Pakistan on Sunday to denounce the Zionist regime’s attacks in Gaza, which has killed at least 181 Palestinians, including women and children.
Rallies and demonstrations were held in the capital Islamabad, commercial capital Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, Multan, Hyderabad and other cities on the call of Milli Yakjehti Council, a conglomerate of Sunni and Shia schools of thought.
In Islamabad, thousands rallied at the capital’s famous D-Chowk roundabout, less than a mile away from the Parliament House, to express solidarity with Palestinians.
Carrying Palestinian flags, banners and posters, some of them plastered with the pictures of Shaikh Ahmed Yasin, the martyred leader of Hamas resistance movement, the protesters chanted anti-Zionist slogans.
In Karachi, thousands took part in a car rally that culminated at the Karachi Press Club after passing through key city roads.
Several cars were decorated with Palestinian flags, while angry protesters also burned the occupying regime’s flags.
Addressing the rallies, the political and religious leaders regretted the mere "lip service” by Muslim leaders, mainly the Arab world and the Organization of Islamic Countries against the Zionist regime’s atrocities.
This continuing inaction, they said, has encouraged the regime to evict Palestinians from their lands.
Meanwhile, the government of southwestern Balochistan province announced to observe Day of Solidarity with Palestinians on Monday to honor Palestinian martyrs and condemn the occupying regime’s aggression.
The tensions that began in Ramadan in East al-Quds spread to Gaza after Palestinian resistance groups there vowed to retaliate against the regime’s assaults on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Kashmiris Arrested
However, police in Indian-administered Kashmir arrested at least 20 people, including an outspoken religious leader who prayed for Palestine and an artist who drew graffiti in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
The family of 32-year-old Mudasir Gull, an artist based in the main city of Srinagar, accused the regional authority of censoring freedom of expression of an artist.
"Why is he detained? What has he done? Has the government banned art here?” his sister Muzamil Firdous asked.
"When the whole world is waking up against Israel’s atrocities, we can’t speak, we can’t practice art; what kind of democracy we live in? Can’t we express our grief for Palestine?” Firdous told Al Jazeera.
Kashmiris came out on the streets after the congregational Friday prayers in support of Palestine, waving their flags in a show of solidarity against deadly air attacks on the Gaza Strip and a brutal crackdown on Palestinians in occupied East al-Quds.
Rallies and demonstrations were held in the capital Islamabad, commercial capital Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, Multan, Hyderabad and other cities on the call of Milli Yakjehti Council, a conglomerate of Sunni and Shia schools of thought.
In Islamabad, thousands rallied at the capital’s famous D-Chowk roundabout, less than a mile away from the Parliament House, to express solidarity with Palestinians.
Carrying Palestinian flags, banners and posters, some of them plastered with the pictures of Shaikh Ahmed Yasin, the martyred leader of Hamas resistance movement, the protesters chanted anti-Zionist slogans.
In Karachi, thousands took part in a car rally that culminated at the Karachi Press Club after passing through key city roads.
Several cars were decorated with Palestinian flags, while angry protesters also burned the occupying regime’s flags.
Addressing the rallies, the political and religious leaders regretted the mere "lip service” by Muslim leaders, mainly the Arab world and the Organization of Islamic Countries against the Zionist regime’s atrocities.
This continuing inaction, they said, has encouraged the regime to evict Palestinians from their lands.
Meanwhile, the government of southwestern Balochistan province announced to observe Day of Solidarity with Palestinians on Monday to honor Palestinian martyrs and condemn the occupying regime’s aggression.
The tensions that began in Ramadan in East al-Quds spread to Gaza after Palestinian resistance groups there vowed to retaliate against the regime’s assaults on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Kashmiris Arrested
However, police in Indian-administered Kashmir arrested at least 20 people, including an outspoken religious leader who prayed for Palestine and an artist who drew graffiti in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
The family of 32-year-old Mudasir Gull, an artist based in the main city of Srinagar, accused the regional authority of censoring freedom of expression of an artist.
"Why is he detained? What has he done? Has the government banned art here?” his sister Muzamil Firdous asked.
"When the whole world is waking up against Israel’s atrocities, we can’t speak, we can’t practice art; what kind of democracy we live in? Can’t we express our grief for Palestine?” Firdous told Al Jazeera.
Kashmiris came out on the streets after the congregational Friday prayers in support of Palestine, waving their flags in a show of solidarity against deadly air attacks on the Gaza Strip and a brutal crackdown on Palestinians in occupied East al-Quds.