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| Protests in Pakistan over Lal Masjid clashes | | |
ISLAMABAD, JULY 4 Pakistan witnessed angry protests over the bloody clash at the radical Lal Masjid which left at least 21 people dead and over 150 injured in gunbattles between militant madrassa students and security forces.
Protesters blocked highways, ransacked banks, damaged vehicles, burnt tyres and effigies on streets, forced traders to shut down shops and took out processions over the strong military response to the flare-up around the Lal Masjid complex.
Security force across Pakistan have been put on high alert to ensure peace and prevent incidents of terrorism and subversion.
Security around major seminaries, particularly those belonging to the Deobandi school of thought, have been increased.
In Lahore, students and teachers of the Jamia Asharfia held a demonstration in solidarity with the Lal Masjid administration.
In Okara, students of Jamia Masjid forced shopkeepers to pull down shutters.
Dozens of activists of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) in Quetta took out a procession against the "attack" on Lal Masjid.
The party announced that it would continue to organise protests till the government ended its siege of the madrassa.
The protesters, led by MNA Maulana Noor Mohammad, shouted anti-Musharraf and anti-Bush slogans.
Maulana Noor alleged that President Pervez Musharraf had instigated the attack at the behest of the US to appease President George Bush, the Dawn daily reported.
In Khairpur, baton-wielding Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam activists forced traders and shopkeepers to close shop.
Clerics, madrassa students and activists of political parties blocked the Karakoram Highway at different places in Mansehra and Abbotabad districts.
Police used batons and fired tear-gas shells to disperse the protesters in Abbotabad after they had ransacked four banks.
Protesters also smashed billboards and wind-screens of several vehicles and set on fire effigies of President Musharraf, the daily said.
Protestors in Bahawalpur held the Musharraf government responsible for creating the mess in Islamabad.
The Pakistan government has deployed the army and imposed curfew around the Lal Masjid where at least 21 people were killed and over 150 injured in gunbattles between militant madrassa students and security forces.
At least 100 students of the radical masjid surrendered before a fresh deadline set by the Pakistani government ended even as the two hardline clerics along with several other students remained holed up inside the complex.
The surrender came as President Pervez Musharraf announced a reward of Rs 5,000 for every student who surrenders besides pardoning them and giving travel facilities to all of them.
"The curfew has been imposed.... Those who surrender will not be harmed. If anybody comes out with arms, he will face bullets," Minister of State for Interior Zaffar Iqbal Warraich said announcing the decision of a high-level meeting presided over by President Pervez Musharraf.
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