Large anti-government procession heads to Pakistan's capital

Thousands of supporters of an ultra-religious political party led by a firebrand cleric took part Sunday in an anti-government procession headed to Pakistan's capital.

Mufti Abrar Ahmed, spokesman for the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party, said a caravan of hundreds of buses and vans that originated in the southern port city of Karachi will make its first overnight stop in Sukkur in Sindh Province.

Before departing Karachi, Maulana Fazlur Rehman told the massive gathering that the procession is also a way to show solidarity with Kashmiri residents facing hardship at the hands of Indian troops. He said the nation is one in support of oppressed Kashmiris.

The beginning of the JUI protest also marks the anniversary of the start of the conflict over Kashmir, a region both India and Pakistan claim. Separately, anti-India protests were planned across Pakistan.

Rehman said the march was also meant to call for the removal of Pakistan's "illegitimate" government, which he claimed was imposed on the ..