Long March: Sunni Ittehad stumbles at Punjab govt roadblock

Sunni leaders say thousands arrested in province-wide crackdown, but minister says not one protestor arrested.

LAHORE: The Sunni Ittehad Council’s long march from Rawalpindi to Lahore hit a major Punjab government roadblock on Saturday, as the planned mass protest failed to swell beyond a small trickle.

Sunni Ittehad leaders accused the provincial government of conducting a mass crackdown and arresting thousands of activists. The government denied that any arrests had been made and insisted the police were there only to provide security and maintain law and order.

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said the police had tried to disrupt the schedule for the long march by holding up activists on the way at various roadblocks and delay their joining up with the main rally. They had also warned the heads of madrassas against encouraging their students to join the long march.

He said the police held up some 800 people at Sohawa Bridge. “After three hours there were only 300 left,” he added. He said the police also stopped the protestors from entering Rawalpandi city and told them to head to Lahore via the Expressway, but they would not listen and so the police had to stop them.

He denied claims from Sunni leaders of mass arrests, saying not a single activist had been arrested in Punjab. “We are doing this for the security of the Sunni leaders who are under serious threat,” Sanaullah said. “Fazle Kareem, Sarwat Ijaz Qadri and Hanif Tayyab have all been the subject of murder attempts by terrorists. It is the government’s duty to take steps for their security. We are not afraid of their protests or slogans.”

Sunni leaders gave varying estimates about the number of arrests, with Jamia Naeemia spokesman topping the charts with his claim of “7,000-8,000”. They warned the Punjab government that its actions would alienate Sunni Ittehad supporters.

“This will have huge repercussions for the PML-N because the people who follow Ahle Sunnat leaders think that the Punjab government is supporting the terrorists,” said Jamia Naeemia head Raghib Naeemi.

Naeemi, who participated in the long march, said that he would meet with the Sunni Ittehad leadership in Lahore to discuss what to do. “This long march was a popular demand,” he said. “The government has tear-gassed innocent people who were taking a stand against terror. They should focus on dealing with the issue rather than treating this initiative as a threat.”

Naeemi said that the decision to impose Section 144 to ban public assembly in various areas indicated a “great intolerance”. He insinuated that Sanaullah had pushed the Punjab government to crack down on the long march because he felt threatened by the council. He said Sanaullah should be sacked for having links to Ahmed Ludhianvi of Sipah-e-Sahaba, a banned group. “The government wants to make the people and country collapse,” said Sunni Ittehad Council chairman Sahibzada Fazle Karim. “It is the government’s job to eradicate terror and violence but they don’t seem to care about anything. We are challenging American-financed drone attacks, inflation, unemployment and most of all we are asking the government ensure the rule of law.”

Karim resigned on Saturday from the Muttahida Ulema Board, a government sponsored body that promotes sectarian harmony, in protest at the treatment of Sunni Ittehad activists.

SIC General Secretary Haji Hanif told The Express Tribune that the police began a crackdown two nights ago, “Even if Shabaz Sharif were to come with talk offers at this point we would ignore him because this is about protecting Pakistan against terrorism,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2010.