By Aamir Latif
KARACHI
Police fired teargas and used water cannon to disperse hundreds of students protesting on Friday against the portrayal of Islam's Prophet Muhammad in the latest edition of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Protesters of the country's largest student movement, Islami Jamiat Talaba, pelted police with stones outside the French consulate in Pakistan's main commercial city, Karachi.
A photographer for French news agency Agence France-Presse is in critical condition after receiving bullet wounds in his chest, according to Dr. Seemi Jamali at Jinnah Hospital in Karachi.
Several students were taken into custody and the number of police increased to disperse the students.
Several political and religious parties have announced countrywide protests against the magazine, which released its first issue Wednesday since the brutal attack on its offices that killed 12 people last week, with a new cartoon showing the Prophet Muhammad on the cover.
The Prophet Muhammad, dressed in white, can be seen shedding a tear and holding a “Je suis Charlie (I am Charlie)” sign, below the headline "All is forgiven."
The slogan "Je suis Charlie" spread worldwide, mere hours after the attack, to become the rallying cry of all who wished to mourn the victims, condemn the attacks or support freedom of the press and expression.
