ASWJ will not support Tahirul Qadri’s march

The party will hold its own march on Jan 11 to protest sectarian killings.

KARACHI: The Islamabad-bound long march called for by Minhajul Quran International chief Dr Tahirul Qadri has found yet another adversary in the form of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), whose spokesperson alleged on Friday that Dr Qadri is working on “someone else’s agenda to postpone the general elections”.

ASWJ spokesperson Maulana Taj Hanafi told The Express Tribune that his party considers Dr Qadri’s call for a long march to be held on January 14 as unconstitutional and undemocratic. “It is apparent that his [Qadri’s] unforeseen movement is not a brainchild of his own. He has allowed himself to be used as a pawn.”

He added that ASWJ will participate in the next general elections under the Muttahida Deeni Mahaz - an alliance of religious parties led by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-S chief Maulana Samiul Haq.

Plans of its own

ASWJ will also continue with the plan of its own march, titled ‘Tahaffuz-e-Ahle Sunnat’, on January 11 from Karachi to Islamabad. Maulana Hanafi said his party had made the announcement for the march about a month ago. It has been organised to protest against the ongoing killings of Sunni scholars and seminary students.



“When we announced our plans, the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) also showed interest in participating and suggested that the title of the march be changed to ‘Aman March’,” said Hanafi. “At a recent DPC meeting, however, its members recommended that the long march be postponed because of rough weather conditions.” He added that if DPC, a conglomerate of over 40 religious and political groups, could not participate because of weather conditions, the ASWJ will continue with the protest anyway.

ASWJ’s march will reach Hyderabad on January 11, where the party’s Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas chapters will join the protest. The protesters will reach Sukkur on January 12. ASWJ’s leader Maulana Abdul Qayyum Haideri complained at a press conference on Friday that the police are preventing the workers from putting up banners. “The banners on the Tilak Incline road were also torn apart by unidentified men.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2013.