The Liberals speak

Yeah, there are some people who have the guts to do what is needed. According to The News


Hundreds rally against religious extremism

Civil society opposes ‘state’ within state; urges govt to take action against Lal Masjid, Jamia Hafsa administration.

ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of rights activists rallied in big cities on Thursday against Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa, which are trying to impose a Taliban-style justice system.More than 300 demonstrators, around half of them women, rallied in the federal capital, chanting slogans including “No to terrorism and extremism” and urged the government to take action.“We want to mobilise public opinion against violations of the law by religious students and the inability and reluctance of the state to deal with these violations,” rally organiser Shireen Mazari told AFP.“The government should take very stern action against the rowdyism being demonstrated by the mosque’s administration,” leading rights activist AH Nayyar told AFP.Liberals and rights activists rallied in Lahore on Thursday to press the government to act against Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa.“Mullahs have ruined our society. They have distorted the image of Islam. We’ll not accept extremism anymore,” Jugnu Mohsin, a rights activist, told a rally after around 700 people had marched, shouting slogans outside the Lahore High Court.“It is government’s failure. They have been blackmailed by the Mullahs of Lal Masjid who are pushing the country towards Talibanisation,” Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Chairman Asma Jehangir said. -AgenciesSyed Bukhar Shah adds from Peshawar: Activists of various civil society organisations and political parties staged a protest demonstration in front of the press club and later took out a procession here on Thursday to condemn what they termed religious extremism propagated by the Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid in Islamabad.The Women Action Forum, Peshawar chapter, had given the call and activists of various NGOs, including Aurat Foundation, Action Aid, Noor Education Trust (NET), Human Resource Management and Development Centre (HRMDC), Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO), Tribal Women Welfare Association (TWWA), Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP), gathered in front of the press club to register their protest against the ongoing activities of the Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid administration. Tribal women from Khyber, Mohmand, Bajaur and Orakzai agencies were prominent among the participants.Carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans against religious extremism, the participants chanted full-throated slogans against “bigotry in the name of enforcement of Shariah”.Speaking on the occasion, representatives of NGOs and political parties deplored that a moderate majority in the motherland had always been held hostage by a small conservative minority for the sake of vested interest. They said the clerics of Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid were trying to set up a state within the state by forcing the people to conform to their own brand of religion.Criticising the administration of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa, the speakers said that illegal occupation of the state land in the federal capital by fanatics in the name of religion was totally unacceptable. The protesters reminded the religious extremists that Islam did not permit coercion of any type and instead put stress on tolerance and humility.“Asking women to give up driving cars and threatening owners of shops to stop selling audiocassettes and video CDs and switch over to other businesses is nothing but an encroachment on the rights of the citizens,” they said.The civil society members asked all the freedom loving people to rise in unison and join hands against the religious intolerance and extremism. “It is a must as the actions taken by the intolerant religious elements of Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid are tarnishing the image of the country in the comity of nations,” they said, telling the baton-wielding students of the seminaries that the people of Pakistan were well-conversant with religious teachings and there was no need to force on them any ideology.The protesters said they have decided to organise various functions and seminars to educate the people regarding the on going activities of the seminary students in Islamabad. They said it would lead the country to civil war if the government did not stop the religious students from imposing their own brand of Islamic ideology on people.