 [Dawn] Life in the city remained largely disturbed on Friday following a strike call given by nearly half a dozen Sunni organizations, including Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam
...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability...
(JUI-F) and Wafaqul Madaris Al-Arabia, with key commercial districts being closed, road traffic remaining thin and fuel stations in most parts of the metropolis shut amid early morning arson attacks and violence.
In an advance warning given to the government, leaders of different religious parties said if the killers of religious leaders were not jugged
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
within a week they would launch a second phase of their protest by staging sit-ins on main roads and at traffic intersections.
The strike call was supported by the Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society , founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer . The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
and also by the Shia Ulema Council that said they supported the call to show their resolve against every kind of terrorism in the city.
The city started returning to life in the evening after the parties gave the go-ahead to traders and transport bodies to resume their business. But road traffic remained thin in the evening as well due to the suspension of gas supply to CNG stations under a load-management programme of the Sui Southern Supply Company.
Most parts of the city remained peaceful during the strike though a couple of incidents of violence in the old city area and district west sowed fear among residents. In Kharadar, two vehicles were set on fire within a short span of time. An official at the central fire station said that a pick-up truck bearing registration number CL-4697 and a minibus (DE-066) were set on fire near Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
i Chowk close to Kakri Ground. By the time fire tenders reached the site, fire had already destroyed the vehicles, he added.
Charged youths blocked traffic on Abul Hasan Ispahani Road by placing burning tyres on it. Some violent scenes were witnessed at Guru Mandir, Patel Para, Lasbela, Sohrab Goth, Lea Market, Lyari
...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot....
and on Mauripur Road where stones were hurled at moving vehicles.
An ASWJ front man termed the strike a 'success' and a "message of peaceful protest from Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
ites, where people from all walks of life, sects and segments of society have become insecure".
The traders' body, which supported the strike, claimed that business in most parts of the city remained closed.
The transporters, who also assured the parties of their 'cooperation' for the strike, said that buses were not run on most routes in the city. Some buses were operated in industrial areas, they added.
"We voluntarily agreed to their appeal after some respected holy mans approached us," said Ateeq Meer of the Bloody Karachi Tajir Ittehad -- a common platform of 350 wholesale and retail markets across the city. "The retail markets resumed their business in the evening as agreed with the parties but wholesale markets remained closed."
Sit-ins planned
Meanwhile,
...back at the wine tasting, Greasy Thumb grabbed his rod!...
addressing a joint conference, leaders of different religious parties warned the government that if the killers of religious leaders were not arrested within a week they would be compelled to launch a second phase of their protest by staging sit-ins on main roads and at traffic intersections.
The warning was given by chief of the Jamaatul Uloom Al-Islamia Binnori Town Sheikh-ul-Hadith Dr Abdul Razzaq Iskander, Jamaatul Uloom Education Director Maulana Imdadullah and JUI-F Bloody Karachi chief Qari Mohammad Usman. ASWJ leader Dr Mohammad Fayyaz was also present at the presser.
Expressing gratitude to all religious and political parties, organizations, transporters, traders and all sections of society for their 'cooperation' to make the Friday strike a success, they urged the chief justice of Pakistain to have mercy on seminaries and students by taking suo motu
...a legal term, from the Latin. Roughly translated it means I saw what you did, you bastard ...
notice of the killing of Mufti Mohammad Abdul Majeed Deenpuri, his colleagues, other Ulema and students and attacks on mosques and seminaries.
While the scenes of gun attacks on Raees-ul-Ufta Maulana Deenpuri, Mufti Saleh Mohammad Karori and Ahsan Ali Shah on Jan 31 were recorded by surveillance cameras, none of the attackers had been arrested so far, they said.
They claimed that students and teachers of seminaries had always restricted themselves to the teachings and learning but now cut-throats had started targeting them as well.
Earlier, addressing a rally outside the Jamia Binnori town after Juma prayers, Small Traders' Organisation Bloody Karachi chapter president Mehmood Hamid had announced that if the killers of the Ulema were not arrested and given exemplary punishment, the small traders would observe a three-day strike and stand by Ulema for elimination of terrorism.
Maulana Mohammad Ghayas of the JUI and Qari Muhammad Iqbal also spoke.
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Maulana Fazlur Rehman
People directly affected by the Lal Masjid operation in July 2007 will meet next month to press the government to reconstruct Jamia Hafsa, re-open Jamia Faridia and the pay compensation to families of those killed in the operation.
Not a single seminary in the federal capital has returned a form from the Federal Education Ministry seeking information about the seminaries sources of funding and decrees. The deadline for returning the forms ended on December 30.