Tuesday 6 July 2010

Pakistanis protest against Lahore shrine bombing

This picture shows thousands of demonstrators in Karachi protesting against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the wake of a double suicide attack on a Sufi shrine last Thursday night in Lahore in which more than 40 people died.
Thousands of people were at the shrine of Hazrat Syed Ali bin Usman Hajweri, popularly known as Data Ganj Bakhsh, at the time of the attack by two bombers. The following day protesters burned tyres outside the shrine before noon prayers and more than 5000 people, mostly followers of the saint, later staged a rally in Lahore, while similar demonstrations were held in other cities across the country.
Participants at a rally in Multan, for example, wore green caps and turbans and accused Taliban militants of trying to destroy religious harmony in Pakistan. The Sunni Tehreek movement announced a nationwide general strike for Saturday in protest against the attacks.
The TTP has denied planning the atrocity, even though it has been instrumental in a wave of bloody attacks over the past three years. A year ago the shrine of another Sufi saint revered amongst many Pashtuns, Rehman Baba, was almost destroyed by a bomb in Peshawar.

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