By DPA,
Karachi : Thousands of radical Islamists gathered in Pakistan’s southern port city Karachi Saturday to condemn an anti-Islam film by a Dutch lawmaker.
More than 5,000 demonstrators chanted slogans “Death to Holland” and “Death to Geert Wilder”, the Dutch anti-immigrant opposition parliamentarian who released the film “Fitna” on the Internet in March.
The protest rally, held amid heavy security, had been call by Movement for Protection of Prophet, a religious organisation with hundreds of thousands of followers.
The 16-minute film mixes verses from the Koran interpreted as calling on Muslims to attack and destroy enemies of the faith with the video footage of terrorist acts against Western countries, claiming a link between the two.
Addressing the rally, the head of the movement, Allama Ibrar Rehmani, termed the film an international crime and an insult to all Muslims.
He said his party and workers would continue with their struggle against the defamation of Prophet Mohammad and the Muslim holy book.
The demonstration was a part of countrywide movement by various religious parties against the film.
The Pakistani government last month lodged a formal protest with the Dutch government against the release of the film, which parliament condemned as “offensive” and “derogatory”.