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Anti-U.S. Protests Grip Kashmir, Continue in Pakistan
SRINAGAR, Nov. 16 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A one-day strike to protest against the killing of civilians in U.S.-led air strikes on Afghanistan Friday closed shops and businesses in Indian-occupied Kashmir, residents said.
The strike was sponsored by the pro-Pakistan group, Al Umar Mujahedin.
"The strike is to register strong protest against the killing of civilians in U.S.-led strikes in Afghanistan," the spokesman of Al Umar told reporters, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The strike closed down most shops, banks and businesses in Srinagar, the summer capital of Kashmir, residents said. However, schools and colleges functioned normally and police said the strike had a "negligible impact" in other parts of the Muslim-majority state.
Al Umar also urged Muslims to take part in a demonstration march from Srinagar's main mosque after Friday prayers. Local and federal police were stationed in strength around the mosque to prevent any protests, officials said.
Some Muslims have been staging anti-U.S. protests there on Fridays in the past few weeks since the United States launched strikes against war-torn Afghanistan on October 7.
A dozen people were injured November 9, including a photographer, when police used force to disperse several dozen Muslim youths near the mosque, AFP reported.
Kashmir's main Islamic separatist alliance, the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), which has supported the U.S.-led action, has urged Kashmiri Muslims not to be swayed by emotion, BBC's online news service reported.
Meanwhile, police in Pakistan's largest city of Karachi said they tightened security for the Muslim holy day (Friday), but did not expect any large-scale protests.
Pakistan's Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) party said it was planning to hold a protest following afternoon prayers, but police in Karachi said they were not expecting more than a few hundred to attend.
"We have intensified the patrols around the city, though we have no reports of any major rallies," city police chief Tariq Jamil told AFP.
The situation was reported as returning to normal, but police and paramilitary troops had been deployed as all other major anti-U.S. protests have been held on the Muslim holy day, he said.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's support for the U.S. has won the backing of most Pakistanis, and has provoked major anti-U.S. rallies.
Karachi has been the center of pro-Taliban protests since the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan began nearly six weeks ago. More than 50,000 Muslims participated in the rally on October 26.
"Our movement has not fizzled out and we will continue our protests until the government changes its policy towards the U.S. and announces support for the Taliban," Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) city spokesman Qari Usman said.
Religious parties will continue to hold peaceful protests against the U.S. and offer special prayers for the success of the Taliban, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) leader Shah Ahmed Noorani said.
"We will pray for the Taliban and condemn the United States through peaceful protest and resolutions after Friday prayers," he told AFP.
Noorani also said the Northern Alliance's toppling of the Taliban in Kabul would be an "eye-opener" for Pakistan. "The Northern Alliance is not only anti-Pakistan," he added, "but is pro-India."
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