Over 400 members of religious group booked for holding rally in Islamabad

Police say rally was taken out in violation of Section 144

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Police on Friday booked over 400 members of a religious group for taking out a rally and blocking roads in sector F-6, near the National Press Club. They were booked for violating Section 144.

The Mukhtar Organisation (MO), a youth-wing of the Tehreek Nifaz-e-Fiqh Jafariya (TNFJ), had taken out the rally to protest against the Saudi government’s demolition of the graves and mausoleums of some important figures in Muslim history.



The police said that the organisers had not obtained a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the local administration as Section 144 is in place in the capital. A case has been registered against the organisers and participants of the rally by the Kohsar police.

The people nominated in the FIR include TNFJ Deputy Chairman Syed Wajihul Hassan, Guftar Sadiq, Akhlaq Kazmi, Naeem Abbas, Shujaat Ali Bukhari, Colonel (retd) Syed Sakhawat, TNFJ Secretary General Zulfiqar Ali, and 400 unidentified attendees.

The police said the organisers initially said that they wanted to hold a protest in front of the National Press Club for protection of the two holy mosques, but later they changed the route.

The police said ICT Assistant Commissioner Kamran Cheema told the participants to avoid marching on the road as they lacked an NOC, but the participants ignored the request.

“Many organisations hold sit in protests outside the press club, but [the rally organisers] took out the rally with loudspeakers on their vehicles and marched on China Chowk. They also did not have an NOC,” said a police officer said.



No arrests have been made yet.

Reacting to the development, MO Deputy Chairman Hassan Kazmi defended the organisation, noting that, “The right to protest against injustice is enshrined in the constitution.”

He said that protests against the demolition of the mausoleums of holy figures were annual events and his organisation had been arranging them for the last 18 years. “Banned outfits can hold rallies here. There were rallies on Kashmir Day a few days ago. Were cases registered against them?” Kazmi asked.

He said their rally was peaceful and the police cooperated with them and provided them security.

He said the people nominated in the FIR were scholars and prayer leaders, adding  that they did not even address the rally. He said that they wanted to highlight the need for Muslim unity for the protection of the two holiest mosques in Islam, especially after recent terrorist attacks in Medina and other cities in the kingdom. He urged the OIC to call a session to address threats to the holy sites.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2016.