G-B violence: ‘We are all Muslims, no harm will come to me’

LAHORE: Hundreds from the Shia community protested against the killings in Gilgit baltistan outside Lahore Press Club on Tuesday. Organized by the Majlis-e-Wahdat-ul-Muslimeen (MWM), the speakers called for action to be taken by the Chief Justice of Pakistan regarding the G-B incident.

Women and children from the Shia community, students from Imamia Students Organizations and students from Gilgit-Baltistan participated in the 3 hours long sit-in, which blocked part of Davis road.

Muhammad Ali Johri was at the protest, grieving for his nephew who was killed on April 2 at Chilas. Johri said his nephew Ruhullah Razvi had left him in Islamabad last week and insisting on traveling to Skardu via road and told his uncle “Everything will be fine, we are all Muslims, no harm will come to me.”

Johri said, eye witnesses told him that Ruhullah was stoned and then thrown in the river. The young man’s body was recovered from the river yesterday.

Chanting slogans against government, judiciary and the media, emotionally charged protesters tried to forcibly enter the Lahore Press Club. Speaking to The Express Tribune Sakina Mehdvi from the MWM questioned media silence on the issue.

“Why is the media not covering this incident? Has Pakistan become the next Gaza or the next Bahrain?” she asked.

Haider Ali Musavi, Imam of the Mochi Darwaza mosque in Lahore said “The government should ensure that there is an alternative route, instead of the Chilas town.” Musavi added that “there is no sectarian issue in Pakistan, people live peacefully in their neighborhoods, but there is a small group affiliated with an organization which spreads unrest.”

Security at the protest in Lahore was provided by the police and there were volunteers from the Shia community who formed human chains around the sit-in.