On March 27, 2008, Dutch politician Geert Wilders released his short film 'Fitna' on the Internet. The film's release had been anxiously awaited, especially in view of concerns expressed by Islamic groups that it was part of an Islamophobic campaign unleashed by the West.
The film's release followed the reprinting of the cartoons of Islam's Prophet Muhammad by Danish newspapers, which fueled anger and protests in the Muslim world.
In Urdu, the word "fitna" - "strife" in Arabic - is commonly understood as "mischief."
The following are some images from the protests:
A protest rally was organized against Dutch Wilders’s Fitna and Danish republication of Prophet Muhammad’s cartoons, in Karachi on Sunday, April 6, 2008, by the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan.
Source: Roznama Express (Pakistan), April 7, 2008
A mother and her child at the Karachi rally.
Source: Roznama Jasarat (Pakistan), April 7, 2008
Many religious groups joined the rally organized by Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan; the protesters burn the effigy of U.S. President George W. Bush
Source: Roznama Jasarat (Pakistan), April 7, 2008
The protesters shouted slogans against U.S., Denmark, and also rising inflation in Pakistan.
The Karachi protest was dubbed ‘Shaan-e-Mustafa’ (Prophet’s Honor) rally.
Source: Roznama Jasarat (Pakistan), April 7, 2008
Jamaat-e-Islami leader Syed Munawwar Hasan addresses the protesters.
Source: Roznama Jang (Pakistan), April 7, 2008
A protest organized by Ahle Hadith Youth Force in Islamabad against the cartoons and Fitna.
Source: Roznama Express (Pakistan), April 5, 2008
Activists of religious parties protest against ‘Fitna’ and killings of their comrades in Pakistan.
Source: Roznama Express (Pakistan), April 4, 2008
Pakistani Ulema and imams of mosques protest against Fitna and republication of Prophet Muhammad’s cartoons.
Source: Roznama Express (Pakistan), April 5, 2008
Members of Nizam-e-Mustafa party protest in Karachi against Geert Wilders.
Source: Roznama Express (Pakistan), April 2, 2008
In Kabul, Afghan women protest against the anti-Koran movie, ‘Fitna’.
Source: Roznama Jasarat (Pakistan), April 3, 2008
A protest held against Geert Wilders’s film Fitna, in front of the Dutch embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Source: Roznama Express (Pakistan), April 4, 2008
Dutch politician Geert Wilders’s face is shown as Satan during a protest in front of the Dutch embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Source: Roznama Express (Pakistan), April 2, 2008