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Women for action against clerics
Political parties and non governmental organisations on Thursday staged a protest at Aabpara Chowk to condemn the government for not taking action against students of Jamia Hafsa. Speaking at the event, Mehnaz Rafi, a parliamentarian from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML), said girl students of Jamia Hafsa were disturbing city life in the name of religion. She stressed that Islam was a religion of peace, not violence. True Muslims believe in equality and freedom of expression for all schools of thought, she said. She said women politicians and NGO activists should work together to get women their due status in society. Nargis Faiz Malik, president of the Islamabad chapter of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), demanded that the government rein in the extremists of Jamia Hafsa.Sameena Nazir, executive director of the Potohar Organisation Development Advocacy (PODA), said the government should evict the madrassa girls from a childrens library, which they have occupied for months. She said the government was responsible for ensuring the rule of law. Dr Farzana Bari, of the Pattan Development Organisation, appealed to the government to close down Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa and drive the extremists out of the city. Naeem Mirza, of the Aurat Foundation, said the government had proved unable to take action against the madrassa students. The protestors carried placards demanding the closure of Jamia Hafsa. They shouted slogans against extremism and the government for taking no action against the madrassa girls. The protestors rallied from Aabpara Chowk to TCS Chowk before they broke up peacefully. Link roads remained closed for an hour. Posted by: Fred 2007-04-06 |
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