Three injured as anti-Charlie Hebdo protest turns violent in Karachi

KARACHI (Web Desk / AFP) - Protestors belonging to Islami Jamiat Talaba were rallying towards French Consulate in Karachi when police used water cannon, tear gas shelling and aerial fire to disperse them.

Reportedly, three people including a policemen and a photo journalist were injured when the clash erupted.

AFP photographer Asif Hassan did not appear to have been deliberately targeted but police and witnesses said protesters from the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami religious party had been shooting at police and Hassan was caught in the crossfire.

The party denied it was responsible and blamed the police.

"The bullet struck his lung, and passed through his chest. He is out of immediate danger and he has spoken to his colleagues," Doctor Seemi Jamali, a spokeswoman for Karachi s Jinnah Hospital where Hassan was taken, told AFP.

She added that Hassan was struck by a non-rubber bullet in his back.

"There were around 350 protesters who wanted to go to the French consulate and when the police tried to stop them they started firing at the police," senior police official Abdul Khaliq Sheikh told AFP.

A witness at the scene confirmed the police account.

But Hafiz Bilal Ramzan head of Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba Karachi blamed police for the "indiscriminate" firing.

"Police are responsible for those wounded during the protest including Asif Hasan," Ramzan said.

Islami Jamiat Talaba members were marching from Teen Talwar towards Fench Consulate to register their protest as religious parties across Pakistan are demonstrating against blasphemous caricatures published by satirical French weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Tens of thousands of religious party activists took to the streets in different cities including Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar to protest against the provocative content.

In addition to rallies by religious parties, lawyers in central Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces also boycotted court proceedings to display their displeasure over the sketches.

The legal fraternity demanded that the federal government should formally lodge a strong protest with France over this publication.

Western countries must not infuriate Muslims with such acts in the name of “freedom of expression,” lawyers said. They also urged other Muslim countries to raise their voices against it.

The rallies come a day after the National Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the "blasphemous caricatures" published in Charlie Hebdo.

The resolution tabled by Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique urged the international community, including Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the European Union, to act against the publication of such material.

The resolution claimed that such cartoons were a conspiracy to create "misunderstanding among civilizations.”

Lawmakers, led by Rafique, also marched outside the Parliament and raised the slogan, "In the service of Prophet Muhammad, we are willing to die." Dozens of parliamentarians, including women, participated in the march.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also condemned the French magazine by issuing a statement from Riyadh that cautioned the publication against using Freedom of speech to hurt religious sentiments of communities and urged the international community to discourage the publication of such "provocative material."

Like many other Muslim nations, Pakistan has condemned last week s deadly rampage at the office of Charlie Hebdo which killed 12 people, including editors, cartoonists and two policemen.But the authorities have also condemned the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

However, cases have been registered against at least 50 unidentified people.