Pakistanis march against extremism

PAKISTAN: More than 200 women and children rallied in the Pakistani capital on Monday and urged the government to act against a fundamentalist mosque for promoting a Taliban-style justice system.

Demonstrators from civil society organisations chanted slogans of “No to religious extremism,” and “No to Taliban-style governance” as they gathered outside parliament.

The protest was the latest in a series against the Lal Masjid or Red Mosque in Islamabad, which has launched morality patrols targeting video shops and set up its own Islamic court.

“Religious extremism is not merely confined to this mosque, it is spreading all over Pakistan and this should concern the government,” leading rights activist Farzana Bari told AFP. Hundreds of people marched against extremism in Islamabad on April 19 after thousands took to the streets of Karachi the previous week.

The leader of the mosque, Abdul Aziz, earlier this month threatened the government with suicide attacks if it tried to shut down his new Islamic court.

The court then issued a fatwa, or Islamic decree, calling for the sacking and punishment of Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar after she was pictured hugging a foreign paragliding instructor following a charity event.

The government of military ruler President Pervez Musharraf has been in negotiations with the mosque’s leaders in a bid to avert a potentially violent confrontation.

Islamabad, Tuesday, AFP