Sunni Ittehad Council protesters clash with traders in Faisalabad

Protesters forcefully close shops, businesses to protest arrest of clerics

Workers of the Sunni Ittehad Council clashed with traders in Faisalabad’s Jhang Bazaar on Tuesday, Express News reported.

The clashes occurred as Sunni Ittehad Council protesters forcefully tried to close shops and businesses in Faisalabad to mark their protest against the arrest of their workers and clerics.

According to the protesters, 26 of their workers have been arrested over the last two months without any evidence.

As part of the National Action Plan, the government  arrested more than 2,065 clerics were arrested for misuse of loudspeakers during a recent crackdown across the country.

Read: Over 2,000 clerics arrested for misusing loudspeakers

In total in February, as many as 218,220 suspects had been picked up in 16,344 operations by law enforcers. Of these, 12,462 people had been arrested. Despite the haul, officials found that only 140 of them had links with terrorists.

Earlier this month, Ittehad Tanzimat Wafaq ul Madaris chairman Mufti Muneeb ur Rehmandemanded that the government release the clerics arrested under the National Action Plan. Hehad  said instead of harassing clerics, the government should identify those involved in terrorist activities. “We have asked the government to provide us with the list of seminaries suspected of involvement in terrorist activities,” he said.

Read: ‘Stop harassing clerics, identify those involved in terrorist activities’