Hundreds of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) activists yesterday staged a demonstration against the removal of the "religion" column from the Pakistani passport, accusing the government of attempting to turn the Islamic country into a secular state.| Oh, horrors! Oh, quick, Ethel! My pills! |
The latest confrontation between Musharraf and the religious bloc erupted after the government issued new machine-readable passports in October. In line with international standards, they do not include a column specifying the holder's religion. Previously, Pakistani passports required bearers to state whether they were Muslims, Christians, Buddhists or affiliates of other religions. The change has enraged Islamists, who have vowed protests to force the government to reverse it. "The column of religion was removed to appease America," said Qazi Hussain Ahmed, head of the MMA.