Pakistanis Protest in
Many Cities across the United States
Protesters
demonstrate in front of the Pakistan Consulate General
in Los Angeles, California, on November 9. The protest
was organized by SAN |
Los
Angeles, CA: Pakistanis living in the United States have
staged protests in various cities to express their strong
disapproval of the November 3 imposition of emergency in
the country. In Los Angeles, the Board of Directors of the
Council of Pakistan American Affairs, COPAA, a Southern
California based organization, strongly condemned the imposition
of Martial Law by General Musharaf through a Provisional
Constitution Order (PCO). A COPAA press release stated:
COPAA demands that General Musharaf immediately withdraw
the PCO and restore the constitution, reinstall all Judges,
rescind its ban on media and telecommunication and free
all political and human rights activists.The abeyance of
Constitution through this unlawful PCO is sure to throw
Pakistan into a political turmoil and lead it away from
the path of true democracy. It is vital that General Musharaf
hold fair and free election and transfer the power to the
elected members of Parliament within time frame stipulated
in the constitution.
COPAA appeals to Pakistani American community in the USA
to use its contacts in Pakistan and make a strong case for
democracy in Pakistan…
On Friday, November 9 community activists staged a protest
rally in front of the Pakistan Consulate in Los Angeles.
The protest was organized by the South Asian Network (SAN)
which has been active in airing the grievances of the South
Asian community and in seeking their remedy. Participants
in the SAN protest called for an end to “the violence
and abuse against the people of Pakistan, to free all activists,
lawyers, judges and others detained since the declaration
of state of emergency, and to stop feeding the dictatorship
in Pakistan that continues to violate human rights.”
Bay Area Pakistanis, according to a story in the Mercury
News of November 10 filed by L.A. Chung, “are coalescing
in a series of protests against de facto martial law declared
Nov. 3 by Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf. Today, from
2 to 4 p.m., in front of San Francisco City Hall, they will
demonstrate against the declared state of emergency and
US continued support of Pakistan's government… "He
cannot, in this day and age, suppress the rights of people
just like this," said San Jose engineer Ali Hasan Cemendtaur
and a member of Friends of South Asia. "It is a deeply
moral issue."
Groups such as Friends of South Asia, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
and local peace group Act Now to Stop War and End Racism,
known as ANSWER, are sponsoring today's (November10) demonstration.
They are seeking reinstatement of Pakistan's constitution,
restoration of the judiciary, lifting the media ban, release
of political prisoners and an end to US support for Musharraf.
Khurram Mahmood, a Bay Area coordinator for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf,
called Musharraf's actions a gross violation of human rights…
Many highly educated Pakistanis in the Bay Area have relatives
imprisoned, such as Abrar Hasan, Cemendtaur's father. Hasan,
a famous jurist in Pakistan and president of the high court
bar association, was detained in an unknown location, he
said.
Cemendtaur made his weekly call home last Saturday, just
15 minutes after police took away his brother-in-law in
lieu of his 72-year-old father, who was not at home when
they came.
The elder Hasan exchanged himself for his son-in-law Sunday,
and Cemendtaur said his family has not had contact with
him.
In Boston, according to Khalid Hasan’s report in the
Daily Times, about 200 Pakistani students from local universities
and colleges and members of the community held a rally at
the Boston Common on Saturday to protest against the state
of emergency in Pakistan. Students at Harvard, MIT and Bunker
Hill Community College were among the key organizers of
the rally at which speeches deploring the attack on the
judiciary, curbs on the media and violence against lawyers,
human right sactivists and students exercising their right
of peaceful protest. Students from the Berklee College of
Music came with percussion drums and synchronized the chants
of ‘Azadi’ in a show of solidarity with Pakistani
students, the judiciary, journalists and human rights activists.
Emerson college students had come with video footage and
interviewed people from the crowd to document the event.
Wellesley College girls were in the forefront holding banners
and leading what they called the “march of the chain”
in a symbolic message for the people of Pakistan who have
been arrested and brutalized for speaking out. Brandies
University students were accompanied by their professor
and program director, who spoke in support of the students
who were at the rally and encouraged them to exercise their
right of free speech and thought. Also in attendance was
a group of students from the University of Massachusetts
and Hampshire College at Amherst. The rally urged the US
government to support the people of Pakistan and not President
General Pervez Musharraf.
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