ASWJ calls off protest after meeting Sindh governor

Protest was scheduled for Friday.

KARACHI:

The Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) has postponed its protest, scheduled for Friday outside the Governor House.

The party, formerly known as the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), had announced the protest at a press conference at the Siddiq-e-Akbar mosque on Tuesday, if the name of its leader Orangzaib Farooqui was not removed from the FIR of a murder case of a Pasban-e-Jafferia leader killed last Saturday. On Wednesday, a delegation of leaders and scholars from the Deobandi school of thought, led by ASWJ’s Maulana Ahmed Ludhianvi, met with Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan.

ASWJ spokesperson Maulana Taj Hanfi told The Express Tribune that the party postponed the sit-in because the governor has assured them of his full cooperation and fulfilling their demands. Hanfi, who attended the meeting, said their demands include security for large seminaries, compensation for the families of the victims of target killings, compensation of losses incurred at the Numaish Chowrangi incident and the removal of Farooqui’s name.

“Governor sahib has agreed to our demands,” he said. “As far as Maulana Farooqui is concerned he said that he will be dealt with in a just manner.”

Hanfi said that ASWJ clearly told the governor that it is only postponing the protest, not cancelling it. The party has postponed protests in the past after being given assurances by the government. The meeting was also attended by JUI (F) leader Maulana Haleemur Rehman, JUI (S) leader Maulana Asad Thanvi among others.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2012.