Demanding rights is not unlawful, not giving them is: Allama Talib Jauhari

Jauhri expresses solidarity with Hazara community, calls current government 'a sinister democracy.'

KARACHI: While condemning the government’s inability to provide security to the vulnerable Shia community, Allama Talib Jauhari on Tuesday said demanding rights is not unlawful, not giving them is.

Jauhari was addressing a joint press conference at Karachi Press Club held to express solidarity with the Hazara community which came under attack again on February 16. A bomb attack in a Shia neighbourhood in Quetta left over 80 people dead.

Calling the current government “a sinister democracy,” Jauhari said a democratic state is desirable but the one we have now is not in the favour of the people it claims to represent.

He called on non-governmental organisations to help those affected in the Quetta carnage.

Holding the government responsible for the current mess, Jauhari said the leaders should either accept they are incompetent and resign or solve issues.

Speaking during the press conference, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) deputy convener Farooq Sattar said his party believes the attack on Hazara community is a part of a greater plot against Pakistan.

Calling the recent attack barbaric, Sattar said terrorists have got the “license to kill” is the country’s major cities.

“Terror rules Quetta, Peshawar and Karachi,” he said.

Former judge of the Supreme Court Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed, while speaking to journalists, questioned how come 1000kg explosives – used in Saturday’s Quetta bombing – travelled to the blast site undetected.

Given the recent sectarian violence in Quetta, Ahmed said security in the city should have been very tight.

The former judge also criticised that government for its failure in identifying and punishing the culprits as well as penalising the forces responsible for security.

“I think this is a manageable issue; its collective failure on the part of the government and security authorities,” Ahmed said.