Pak rightwing group to unite 1mn people against Hebdo cartoons

Pakistan's far-right Jamaat-e-Islami has said it will bring together a million people on Friday to protest against a French satirical weekly, even as an uneasy calm prevailed here a day after four persons were injured in violent protests over a cartoon considered un-Islamic.

At least four people, including a photojournalist of AFP news agency, were injured in a bloody showdown between thousands of supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami's student wing and police yesterday when the protesters tried to enter the French consulate here.

Three other persons, including a TV cameraman, were injured by tear gas shells fired by the police.

The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq announced yesterday to bring together nearly one million people on the streets on Friday to denounce the cartoon of Prophet Muhammad, considered un-Islamic by Muslims.

Hafiz Saeed, the chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawa - a wing of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba which masterminded the 2008 attacks in Mumbai - has announced another protest for tomorrow in Lahore.

The protests yesterday were against a controversial cartoon in the satirical magazine 'Charlie Hebdo'.

During the showdown, a bullet struck the photojournalist's lung and passed through his chest but he is stated to be out of danger and recuperating at the Aga Khan University Hospital here, a paramedic from the hospital told PTI.

The other injured persons had minor injuries and were allowed to go home after treatment.

The satirical weekly republished the contents on Wednesday after an attack on its office in Paris by two gunmen last week in which 12 people, including journalists, were killed.

Pakistan has already condemned the cartoons and asked various groups protesting in the country to remain peaceful.

Muslims worldwide protested yesterday against the magazine, which has sold more than three million copies of its first edition since the attack on its office last week.

The deadliest rallies were observed in Zinder, the second largest city of Niger, where four people were killed and 45 injured.

The situation, however, was relatively peaceful as compared to protests against 'Innocence of Muslims' movie in 2012, during which at least 50 people were killed across the Muslim countries.