Clashes erupted in Rawalpindi a week ago when a procession of Shias marking Ashura coincided with a sermon at a nearby Sunni mosque. The groups attacked each other, TV cameramen and security forces, firing gunshots.
Schools, shops and restaurants were closed in the city on Friday while roads were deserted in both Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
A heavy contingent of police, paramilitary rangers and soldiers was deployed in major cities, including Lahore, Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
, Quetta and Multan.
In Rawalpindi, Maulana Ahmad Ludhianvi, who leads Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat
...which is the false nose and plastic mustache of the murderous
bannedextremist group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain, whatcha might call the
political wingof Lashkar-e-Jhangvi...
(ASWJ) organization, said, "We know how to fight against enemies of Islam and we are fighting against them."
He said that the Raja Bazaar tragedy took place due to irresponsibility of the administration. He demanded that the Punjab government immediately arrest the culprits involved in the Rawalpindi incident.
Difa-e-Pakistain Council and traders bodies also carried out a peaceful rally.
In Islamabad, a rally was taken out from Lal Masjid to National Press Club on the call of Wafaqul Madaras and ASWJ. It was led by Maulana Masoodur Rehmani and attended by about 4,000 people, mostly students of seminaries of Islamabad and surrounding areas.
The rally was also attended by JI central leader Mian Aslam, Maulana Tayyab Mehmood, Maulana Zahoor Alvi, Maulana Nazir Ahmad Farooqi and other holy mans.
Addressing the rally participants, ASWJ Deputy Secretary General Maulana Masoodur Rehman condemned the Rawalpindi incident.
He said Maulana Ahmad Ludhianvi, Maulana Samiul Haq
...the
Godfather of the Taliban,leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as
Mullah Sandwichfor his habit of having two young boys at a time...
,
Maulana Fazlur RehmanDeobandi holy man, known as
Mullah Dieselduring the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ...
and others, during meetings with government officials, have presented their demands according to the aspirations of people.
He said that according to the decision of ASWJ, they would remain peaceful. He said the "government has deployed the army, which is a respectable institution, to hide its failures". He demanded arrest of those responsible for festivities in Rawalpindi, imposition of ban on all mourning processions and compensation for the losses suffered by traders.
He warned that if the government did not fulfil their demands at the earliest, the holy mans "would not care for the army and peaceful rallies will turn violent".
Police used shipping containers to block certain roads in the capital Islamabad and Rawalpindi, while the approaches to the diplomatic enclave, which houses foreign embassies, were sealed.
Umar Hayat Lalika, regional police chief for Rawalpindi, told news hounds that gatherings in the city have been banned and police would stop any attempts to hold rallies.
He said police had tossed in the slammer
Please don't kill me!
24 suspects including a few police officials, adding they were being interrogated.
In Quetta, up to 2,000 activists gathered to record protest. Local ASWJ leader Ramzan Mengal addressed the protesters on the occasion.
Similar scenes were seen in Peshawar, where some 4,000 people answered ASWJ's call at the city's Shobha Bazaar, while protests were also held in Lahore.
In Karachi, 15,000 people attended an ASWJ rally, shouting anti-Shia slogans.
All shops, restaurants and petrol stations in the city remained closed and roads were deserted amid a heavy deployment of police and paramilitary troops, an AFP news hound said.
A curfew was imposed in Rawalpindi and army called in following festivities between Shia mourners and students of a Sunni seminary during an Ashura procession on November 15.
Violence had also erupted in southern Punjab cities of Multan and Chishtian where civil authorities sought troops' help to maintain law and order.