The women’s wing of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) on Wednesday staged a demonstration at Aabpara Chowk against cartoons of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) published in newspapers across Europe. Over 1,000 veiled women gathered at Aapara and shouted slogans against President Pervez Musharraf, claiming that the government reaction to the cartoons, deemed blasphemous by Muslims, did not represent that of Muslims. They held banners and placards demanding punishment for the editor of the Danish newspaper which published the cartoons first and an end to diplomatic and trade ties with European countries where the cartoons were published later. They burned the Danish prime minister’s effigy. Senator Dr Kausar Firdous, Samia Raheel Qazi and others led the procession. Most of the women protestors were seminary students. Some of them also brought their children with them. Students of Jamia Hafsa Al Banat were dominant among the demonstrators near Lal Masjid. “We condemn the blasphemous cartoons strongly and demand the government take note of the situation,” Senator Firdous, who is also former chief of the Islami Jamiat-e-Talabat, said. She said women condemned the cartoons and the “inadequate” measures taken by the government against countries where they were published. She claimed the present government had deviated from the “real spirit” of the teachings of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). Samia Raheel Qazi called for a joint strategy of Muslim countries under the umbrella of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) on the cartoon issue. She said the government should play its part in the “revival of the Muslim civilisation” and stop all “western and anti-Islamic traditions”.