KARACHI, Jan 11: Over a dozen people, including two police officials, were injured on Sunday when police fired teargas shells and severely baton-charged participants of an anti-Israel rally, taken out by the Imamia Students Organisation (ISO), police and witnesses said.

They said the participants reached the Fawwara Chowk near the Governor’s House during late afternoon after marching through the streets from Numaish Chowrangi.

The witnesses said the police started a baton-charge and fired teargas shells on the rally after some of the participants tried to move towards the American consulate.

The DSP of the Preedy police station, Salman Ahmed, told Dawn that the police resorted to teargas shelling and baton-charge after some participants of the rally attacked him. “I fell to the ground when someone hit me on the head with a helmet,” he added.

An ISO spokesperson, Ali Raza, however, condemned the police action and said it was aimed at provoking the peaceful participants of the rally. “The trouble started when three or four young men walked towards the US consulate where they wanted to burn an American flag,” he added.

The spokesperson said the police could have stopped the young men without resorting to such an extreme action against the participants, who had already started dispersing peacefully after the protest.

He said at least 10 protesters were injured in the police action. “Fifteen of our workers are still untraceable and they are believed to have been picked up by the police,” he said.

The police, however, said they had not arrested anyone from the rally.

Meanwhile, sources said the police started shelling the rally on the orders of the Capital City Police Officer, Wasim Ahmed, who was also on the spot with a heavy escort.

The SHO of the Artillery Maidan police station, Ehsan Zulfiqar, said he did not know who had ordered the shelling and baton-charge.

‘Threat to humanity’

The Israeli state is the greatest threat to world peace and humanity which, in its sustained brutal aggression on Gaza, had already killed more than 870 Palestinians, including 300 children, and wounded thousands others, speakers at the anti-Israel rally said earlier.

Condemning the United States for supporting the Israeli aggression and the United Nations Security Council, the resolution adopted by the rally expressed complete solidarity with the Palestinians, Hamas, Jehad-i-Islami and Hezbollah. The rally, which marched from Numaish Chowrangi to the Karachi Press Club and was not allowed by the police to proceed beyond the Fawwara Chowk, adopted the resolution which said the dead and injured children were asking the world where the human rights groups were. “Where are the world’s peace-keeping authorities? What is the UN Security Council doing to save the innocent Palestinian children and women from the Israeli aggression?” it said.

“The people of Pakistan strongly condemn the role of the US and demand that it let the Security Council perform its duty of maintaining international peace and security,” the resolution added. It also demanded that the Israeli prime minister be declared a war criminal.

“The people of Pakistan declare complete solidarity with and moral support to Hamas, Jehad-i-Islami and Hezbollah,” the resolution added.

The rally was addressed by ISO President Hasan Zaidi, Maulana Hasan Zafar Taqvi, Maulana Syed Ali Murtaza Zaidi, Qazi Ahmad Noorani, Asadullah Bhutto and Khan Mohammad Baloch.

Participants of the rally were raising slogans such as “Down with the US and the UN”, “Israel not acceptable”, “Long live Hamas and Hezbollah”.

They were holding posters of Imam Khomeini, Iranian Supreme Leader Syed Ali Khamenei, political leader of the Hamas Politburo Khalid Mashaal and Hezbollah secretary-general Syed Hasan Nasrallah.

Speakers called upon the Pakistan government to play its role in providing practical assistance to the Palestinians and to demand holding of OIC and UN sessions immediately for taking effective measures against Israel.

They said Hamas was the only representative organisation of the Palestinian Muslims and a conspiracy against their elected government was proof of double standards of the West.

The Labour Party of Pakistan also took out a protest rally from Regal Chowk to the Karachi Press Club, with banners and placards saying: “Stop the massacre of unarmed Palestinians.” They also burnt an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.