Protests against Anti-Islam Film in Peshawar
More than 15,000 protesters on Oct. 1 participated in a peaceful protest, Haroon Khan, a senior Peshawar police official said.
They protested against a U.S.-made film that insults Islam's Prophet.
The demonstrators called for the expulsion of the U.S. ambassador from Pakistan. They also wanted the international community to condemn the film.
Multiple religious and political organizations were among the protesters. Pakistan has been witnessing such protests on an almost daily basis since the emergence of the blasphemous film.
On September 29, thousands of people flooded the streets of Karachi for a rally against the U.S.-made 'Innocence of Muslims' video. The amateurish clip insulting the Prophet Muhammad sparked massive protests in Pakistan.
Demonstrators filled the streets of the southern Pakistani port city, waving Islamic flags and banners and chanting “Down with America!”
Hundreds of police were deployed to monitor the scene.
Speakers at the rally slammed the U.S. for refusing to outlaw the video clip despite persistent demands from Muslim countries. Both American leaders and Google – the company that owns the video website YouTube that is the main platform for the 14-minute trailer – said the clip cannot be banned outright, as this would violate freedom of expression laws.
“We strongly condemn this anti-Islam movie, it is a criminal act,”prominent Muslim cleric Mufti Muneebur Rehman said during the Karachi rally.
Muslim clerics at the rally said that while they support freedom of expression, the West should respect the Muslim community’s sentiments and stop promoting hatred towards Islam. They demanded that the video be removed from YouTube entirely.
Also a target of ire at the rally was caricatures of Prophet Muhammad published in France in the wake of massive anti-film rallies around the world. Demonstrators called on Western nations not to permit blasphemous acts, especially for the sake of monetary gain.
By Sadroddin Musawi
Other links:
Muslims Protest Blasphemous Film, Cartoons in Northern Nigeria
Thousands Protest Anti-Muslim Film in Toronto
Thousands of Nigerians Protest Film Insulting Prophet
Brazil Court Orders YouTube to Remove Anti-Islam Film
