The Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) and the Majlis-i-Wahdat-al-Muslimeen (MWM) held rallies in front of the Press Club and Karbala Gamay Shah on Friday to protest the Rawalpindi tragedy. Heavy police contingents had been deployed at the venues as a precaution to avoid any untoward incident but the protests were relatively peaceful.
The ASWJ’s rally was held in front of the Lahore Press Club and went on for four hours. Nearly 1,000 people joined the rally.
Security SP Ali Salman Khan told The Express Tribune that the administration had approved the timing and venue of the protest. Operations DIG Rana Abdul Jabbar said more than 700 policemen had been deployed at the Press Club.
The protest was called by ASJW Lahore ameer Maulana Hussain Ahmad, divisional president Maulana Muhammad Jameel Muawiya, provincial president Maulana Shamsur Rehman Muawiya, the International Khatam-i-Nabuwwat Movement, the Jamatud Dawa, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Ahle Sunnat Deoband and the Jamiat-i-Talaba-i-Arabia.
The demonstrators carried placards and banners condemning the Rawalpindi tragedy. Speakers at the rally demanded the government bring the perpetrators to justice. If the government does not restrict mourning to the imam bargahs, the ASWJ will do that, speakers said.
They criticised what they called the administration’s failure to maintain law and order during Ashura.
They demanded an impartial inquiry of the incident. They asked the government to restrict mourning to imam bargahs.
The speakers said that if the government did not take immediate action against those responsible for the incident, ASWJ workers will take to the streets. They demanded compensation for the losses incurred in the incident.
The police officials on duty at the procession must be terminated, the speakers said.
“Hezbollah is active in the country,” a speaker said, “Their flags were seen at the procession when the tragedy occurred.”
The Majlis-i-Wahdat-al-Muslimeen (MWM) too held a sit-in in front of Karbala Gamay Shah. Over 2,000 people, including women and children, attended the protest.
MWM Punjab secretary general Allama Abdul Khaliq Asadi said the government was trying to incite sectarian violence. He asked the Supreme Court to take notice of the incident.
“Ashura mourners have never perpetrated terrorist acts,” he said. “We are always the target.”
He said those demanding that mourning be confined to imam bargahs “are delusional”. Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafri said the government should deal with terrorist organisations and religious parties differently.
Allama Abuzar Mehdavi accused the law minister of hindering the investigation of the tragedy. He said terrorist organisations pretending to be religious parties were responsible for sectarian violence in the country.
As many as 600 policemen were deployed outside Karbala Gamay Shah. Operations DIG Rana Abdul Jabbar said that over 10,000 policemen had been deputed in the city. He said metal detectors and walk-through gates had been installed at entry points at senstive imam bargahs and mosques. The Lahore police also held a flag march on The Mall, starting from the Punjab Assembly to Secretariat Chowk.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2013.