MMA will preach against ‘obscene’ race | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

MMA will preach against ‘obscene’ race

Qamar Jabbar
LAHORE, January 20 2006: Eight anti-marathon protests under the Muttahida Majlis-e-Aamal (MMA) will be held in the provincial capital today (Friday).

The protests would be aimed at convincing people to boycott the mixed marathon and join religious groups against obscenity, said a meeting on Thursday, which was presided over by Lahore MMA President Hafiz Salman Butt. The meeting said the party would also launch a campaign from January 20 against the “anti-Islamic move by the rulers”. Clerics would ask people to boycott the marathon and support the MMA during Friday sermons, the meeting added.

The main protests will be held at Multan Chungi, Chauburji, Ravi Road, Shalimar Chowk, Kainchi Chowk, Liberty Market, Muslim Town, Samanabad and Sadar Bazaar. MMA leaders Liaqat Baloch, Fareed Paracha, Hafiz Salman Butt, Haji Abdul Razaq, Syed Ehsanullah Waqas, Owais Qasim, Pir Saifullah Khalid, Waqar Nadeem, Chaudhry Muhammad Shaukat and Qari Zawar Bahadur will address the protests.

Salman Butt said that clerics had been asked to condemn the marathon during Friday sermons and protest outside mosques, pressing the government to withdraw its decision. He said that MMA leaders had held meetings with students and delegations of traders and lawyers, seeking their cooperation in this regard. MMA leaders and workers had also been assigned duty at all the banks and other important spots, from where people would purchase tickets, he said, “We will not force people but we will brief them about the government’s intention to promote obscenity under the cover of sports and funds for the October 8 earthquake victims.”

He said that the MMA would try its best to block the marathon on January 29. A meeting of MMA’s central and provincial leaders would be held on Jan 27 to make a plan, he said, adding that it would be better for the government to cancel the marathon, otherwise the administration would have to “face the consequences”.
Source: Daily Times
Date:1/20/2006