Religious freedom: MWM activists protest restrictions on ‘firebrands’

Demand govt lift ban on movement of Shia clerics

LAHORE: Dozens of Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) members staged a protest demonstration on Sunday against the arrest of several party leaders and the restrictions imposed on their movement.

MWM leader Raja Nasir Abbas Jafferi led the protest in front of the Lahore Press Club.

The protesters accused the government of discriminating against Shias. They said government’s policies were affecting their religious freedom. They demanded that the chief minister take notice of the situation.

“If such policies are not abolished, we will take out rallies and spread the protest across the country,” MWM Punjab secretary general Allama Abdul Khaliq Assadi said. He also accused the government of patronising those killing Shia people.

“Stopping Shia clerics from attending processions in the name of security amounts to denying them their right to practice their beliefs. We don’t need anyone’s permission to hold such events,” Assadi said. He said no other province had such curbs.

The protesters demanded that the government lift the ban on use of loudspeakers during Muharram.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 19^th, 2015.