Students, activists stage protest outside US Consulate in Lahore

Lahore/Karachi: Pakistani students and rights activists on Tuesday staged a demonstration outside the US Consulate in Lahore to protest the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the killing of a dozen protesters by the US Marines in Karachi.

A heavy contingent of police, including women personnel, was deployed outside the American Consulate to handle the demonstrators. Police have also placed containers on all routes leading to the consulate.

Protesters representing the Progressive Students and the ‘Aurat March’ chanted slogans against the US and Israel for attacking Iran and killing its supreme leader. “America ka jo yar hai, gaddar hai gaddar hai (Friend of America is a traitor).” They also condemned the firing of US Marines on protesters outside the American Consulate in Karachi that resulted in the death of a dozen people.

The protesters demanded the immediate expulsion of the US ambassador from Pakistan.

They said the killing of the supreme leader is a loss for the entire Muslim Ummah. They said his only fault was refusing regime change in Iran.

The protesters also called for an immediate ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Over 20 people were killed during protests in Pakistan following the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei.

Pakistan’s Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) chief and opposition leader in the Senate, Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, claimed that at least 34 people were killed in the country during the clashes with law enforcers while protesting the assassination of the Iranian supreme leader.

“On Sunday in Karachi, 18 people were killed and more than 40 injured. In Islamabad, four people lost their lives and dozens were injured. In Skardu and Gilgit, six people were killed in each city, with dozens more injured. And in Lahore, dozens were also injured during the crackdown,” Abbas said.

Lambasting the US Marines for the killing of 18 people in Karachi, the Senate opposition leader said: “The firing by personnel of the United States Marine Corps on unarmed demonstrators at Karachi US Consulate is condemnable in the strongest terms.”