Hundreds of people have been injured in a stampede at a circus in northern Pakistan after Islamic activists assaulted the spectators. The charge occurred after students from Islamic seminaries in Gujranwala, a northern city of Pakistan near Lahore, ransacked and torched the circus on Friday. Armed with sticks and clubs, the attackers denounced it as obscene and “un-Islamic”. Eyewitnesses say the student attackers, who numbered over 100 were led by a local cleric, Qazi Hameedullah. He is a national assembly member and representative of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal or the MMA, an alliance of radical religious parties. The police resorted to using their batons as they tried to disperse the crowd. A fire brigade was called to put out the fire. The mobs attempted to attack another circus, but were prevented by the police, who closed it down and ordered the closure of eight theatres in the town to prevent further damage. Full Story
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