Head of ASWJ in Punjab shot dead

Punjab CM directs police to boost security for religious leaders, places of worship.

LAHORE:

A provincial head of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) was shot dead in Lahore on Friday.

Maulana Shamsur Rehman Muawiya, the chief of ASWJ’s Punjab chapter, was killed after unidentified gunmen opened fire on his car along Ravi Road. The ASWJ leader had been returning home after leading Friday prayers at the Muhammadi Mosque in the Ravi Road locality, his brother, Maulana Abdul Rehman, told The Express Tribune.

“As he [Muawiya] reached the Ring Road interchange, the assailants, who arrived on a motorcycle, opened fire at his Toyota Corolla,” he said.

According to Rehman, Muawiya had led Friday prayers at the Muhammadi Mosque for the past five years. He said his brother was usually accompanied by a gunman, but the latter was on leave on the day of the incident. When asked about who could have been behind the attack, Rehman said his brother had no personal enmity with anyone and it was premature to say anything about the assailants.

Muawiya leaves behind two sons and a daughter.

Upon getting wind of the incident, a large number of ASWJ activists reached the Mian Munshi Hospital, where Muawiya had been rushed for treatment. The protesters later followed the ASWJ leader’s body to the Mayo Hospital morgue and held a protest demonstration at Nila Gumbad and the Mall Road, demanding the arrest of those responsible for the killing.

The protesters kept the Mall Road closed for vehicular traffic for about two hours. Some of them pelted nearby shops with stones, prompting police to force shopkeepers to close their outlets.

Following the ASWJ leader’s killing, Punjab Inspector General Police Khan Beg put the force on high alert and ordered them to tighten security at places of worship to avoid any untoward incident.

On the application of ASWJ Lahore chapter president Maulana Hussain Ahmed, police registered an FIR against the unidentified assailants under sections 302, 324 of Pakistan Penal Code and section 7 of Anti Terrorism Act. The complainant termed the attack on Muawiya a target killing incident in the FIR.

According to Capital City Police Officer Chaudhry Shafiq, police officials have collected evidence from the scene of the crime and two separate teams have been constituted to probe the matter.

Meanwhile, acting chief of ASWJ Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi announced a strike for today (Saturday). His spokesman, Ghulam Mustafa Baloch, told The Express Tribune that Muawiya’s funeral prayers will be offered at the Mall near Masjid-e-Shuhada after Zuhr prayers. The deceased ASWJ leader will be buried at the Mianmir graveyard, he added.

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Syed Munawar Hassan and secretary general Liaquat Baloch condemned Muawiya’s killing. In a joint statement, the two leaders termed the incident a failure on the Punjab government’s part and demanded Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ensure those responsible were arrested.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2013.