Hundreds of people have taken to the streets of the Pakistani capital Islamabad to denounce the recent attack on the holy shrine of Hazrat Zeinab (AS) in Syria, Press TV reports.
Fridayâ„¢s protest march was organized by Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, which is one of the largest Shia political formations in Pakistan.
The demonstrators, who were chanting Å“Down with the USA and Down with Israel,” protested against the attack on the shrine of the granddaughter of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The protesters blamed the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia for fanning the flames of unrest in Syria and sowing seeds of discord among Muslims.
“We consider that these attacks and attacks on the Holy Prophet (PBUH) are related,” said Hassan Badar, a member of The Tehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan (TJP), referring to last yearâ„¢s blasphemous US movie and French cartoons, which insulted Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Badar added that the entire the Muslim ummah (community) must condemn these attacks.
The shrine is located 16 kilometers (10 miles) south of the capital. Hazrat Zaynab (AS) is the daughter of the first Shia Imam, Imam Ali (PBUH), and Hazrat Fatimah (PBUH) — Prophet Muhammad’s daughter.
Protesters in Islamabad demanded that the United Nations and Muslim countries take notice of the attack and condemn it as an act of terrorism.
Last week, mortar shells hit the shrine, which is located in the suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus. The shells were fired by the foreign-backed militants operating inside Syria.
In May, extremists desecrated the shrine of Hujr ibn Adi — a close companion of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and a staunch supporter of Imam Ali (PBUH) — in a northeastern suburb of Damascus, exhumed his body, and took it to an unknown location.
Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions of others displaced in the violence.
In an interview broadcast on Turkish television in April, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that if the militants take power in Syria, they could destabilize the entire Middle East region for decades.
Å“If the unrest in Syria leads to the partitioning of the country, or if the terrorist forces take control… the situation will inevitably spill over into neighboring countries and create a domino effect throughout the Middle East and beyond,” he stated.
GJH/MHB
Republished from: Press TV