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| India-Pakistan |
| ST warns govt of besieging parliament if Qadri given death |
| 2011-01-10 |
| [Pak Daily Times] Hundreds of Sunni Tehreek (ST) activists on Sunday gathered at Benazir Bhutto Shaheed (BBS) Road and staged protest a demonstration at Liaquat Bagh demanding release of Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, the assassin of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer. Led by Rawalpindi ST Learned Elders of Islam board's chairman Allama Ghufran Mehmood Sialvi, scores of other activists including ST City Convener Allama Attaur Rehman Dhanial, Mufti Sulman Rizvi, Syed Inayatul Haq Shah, Pir Sarkar G, Allama Farooq Chishti, Mufti Khteeb Ahmed al-Azhri, Advocate Raja Shujahur Rehman, Malik Abdul Rahuf, Sahibzada Shahid Mansoor, religious scholars belonging to different schools of thought, Shabaab-e-Milli Pakistain office-bearers and workers and a large number of seminaries' students took part in the protest demonstration. They were holding ST flags, portraits of Qadri, banners and placards inscribed with slogans in support of Qadri, demanding his release immediately. While addressing the protestors, Sialvi said ST would provide legal and constitutional support to Qadri and would look after his family members. "If Qadri is given death sentence, the whole nation will besiege Parliament House," Sialvi warned. He said the ST was against Death Eaters and terrorism but it demanded shifting Qadri's case from Anti Terrorism Court to other court. "Qadri did not commit any act of terrorism for which he was being presented before ATC," he stated. He mentioned that President and Prime Minister should remove apprehensions of the people by making announcement that blasphemy laws would not be amended. He also demanded Chief Justice of Pakistain Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to provide security to the family members of Qadri. The ST convener held the erroneous policies of the government responsible for current bad law and order situation in the country. He warned the members of NGOs not to promote western culture in Pakistain and avoid unnecessary interfering into religious matters of Mohammedan. He paid a rich tribute to Rawalpindi District Bar Association (RDBA) members upon showing their willingness to appear before the court on behalf of Qadri during his first appearance. The ST leaders appealed to the people to gather outside ATC today (Monday) at Rawalpindi at 9am to pay homage to Qadri upon his appearance before the judge. ST activists' rally on BBS Road not only caused traffic blockage but also triggered massive gridlocks on the adjacent roads including Mareer Hassan, Mareer Chowk, Liaquat Road, College Road, Ganjmandi and City Saddar Road causing problems for commuters and pedestrians. Police made comprehensive security arrangements to tackle any untoward incident on the occasion. |
| Posted by:Fred |