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| India-Pakistan |
| Fundo rallies falling short |
| 2001-10-16 |
The preacher ranted, the crowd waved bin Laden placards and chanted, "Death to America". But when the rally was over the 4,000 or so advocates of jihad who had gathered in the dust of the Quetta cricket ground to protest at American actions in Afghanistan meekly trooped off home to tea. It was the same story all over the country. A national day of strikes and protests called by Pakistan's main religious parties to coincide with the visit of Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, fizzled out in half-hearted observance and poor attendances. For the moment, at least, it seems that the government of General Pervaiz Musharraf has ridden out the squalls of Islamic anger generated by the war and is firmly in control of the country's security. In Islamabad many shops and some schools closed and there were several arrests. There was a flurry of stone-throwing in Hyderabad. In Jacobabad, where a man was shot dead on Sunday in protests against America being allowed to use the local air base for search and rescue missions, police arrested scores of Taliban supporters to prevent a repetition. It was all very much less than the Islamic parties had been hoping for. The Islamists have not even managed to galvanise all their core supporters. Religious parties have never managed to win more than five per cent in any election in Pakistan. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |