Countrywide protests held on Soyem of Shikarpur martyrs

LAHORE: Protest rallies were taken out in different parts of the country to condemn the bomb blast in a mosque in Shikarpur on the occasion of Soyem of the martyrs on Sunday.
The Shia Ulema Council (SUC) held a protest in Lahore, which was attended by a large number of members from SUC and JSO. The protesters condemned the incident and slammed the Sindh government for its failure to provide security to citizens. They demanded stern punishment for terrorists and strict implementation of death penalty against them.
The demonstration was addressed by Hafiz Kazim Raza Naqvi, Allama Hassan Raza and Fakhar Abbas Buttar.The SUC also took out two rallies from Chakwal to condemn the Shikarpur carnage. The first rally was taken out from Imambargah Sadaat, which was led by Syed Ahmed Shah. The protesters were carrying banners and posters and chanting slogans against the government.
The rally culminated into a big public gathering at the Bhoun Chowk where it was addressed by various speakers. The speakers criticised the government for its failure to provide security to worshippers.
Another rally blocked the Chakwal Talagang Road and Balksar Interchange of the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway.The protesters, led by Syed Imdad Sabri, also burnt tyres. They demanded that real culprits must be brought to book and terrorists who were sentenced to death must be hanged forthwith.
In Burewala, the Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) and the SUC took out a joint rally against the Shikarpur tragedy from Imambargah up to the Burewala Press Club.Addressing the participants, Syed Muhammad Raza Naqvi, Allama Sajjad Anees, Ali Abid Chaudhry and others condemned the Shikarpur incident, saying that the government had failed to protect religious places and scholars. They criticised the provincial government of Sindh for its failure to secure life and property of citizens. They demanded stern action against criminals and terrorists.
In Dera Ghazi Khan, a rally was taken out against the Shikarpur tragedy from Imambargah Rizvia which culminated into a gathering at the Traffic Chowk. The protesters also staged a sit-in at the Traffic Chowk. Addressing the protesters, Allama Syed Shahid Hussain Naqvi, Maulana Ghulam Akbar and others said the incident showed the ineptness of the government.
Partial shutterdown strikes were observed in Sukkur and across the province on Sunday on the joint appeal of the Shia Rabita Council and nationalist parties against the mosque bombing incident in Shikarpur in which dozens of people died on Friday.
There was a total strike in Shikarpur where several protest rallies were taken out to condemn the dastardly act.The President of the Shia Rabita Council, Major (retd) Ali Abbas Kazmi, while addressing one of the protest rallies, held the Sindh government responsible for the bombing incident and said that the incident was a security lapse.
He said that Shias were being targeted in Sindh but the Sindh government had been protecting terrorist organisations.Kazmi said that the incident of Shikarpur bombing was a reaction to the Operation Zarb-e-Azb. He demanded a similar operation in Sindh.
Kazmi said that the Shikarpur incident was also a failure of intelligence agencies because they had failed to detect such militant groups in the rural areas of Sindh. Ayaz Latif Palejo, president of the Qaumi Awami Tehreek, said the country was passing through a war-like phase, and terrorist networks had been spreading in the rural areas of Sindh.
He said the people of Sindh were secular, and they believe in love and detest bigotry, but under a conspiracy the peaceful soil of Sindh was being turned into a soil of terrorism.Aleem Adil Shaikh visited the Sukkur Civil Hospital to see the injured of the Shikarpur mosque blast. He said it was shocking to learn about the presence of the Jundallah Group in the rural areas of Sindh.
He said the agencies must look into the matter seriously to detect those who had been facilitating the group. The Leader of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly, Sharyar Khan Mahar, paid rich tributes to the victims of the Shikarpur bomb blast incident and condoled with the families of victims.
Meanwhile, till the filing of this report, the Shikarpur suicide bomb blast case had not been registered by the police.Addressing a press conference, Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh, special assistant to Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif, said that the suicide bombing incident was a conspiracy to destroy peace in Sindh. He said it was a matter of deep anxiety that a number of deaths occurred due to non-availability of medical facilities.
The special assistant to the prime minister demanded of the Sindh government Rs5 million compensation for the heirs of each victim. Allama Syed Sajid Ali Naqvi said that the Shikarpur disaster was the result of a preplanned network of terrorism in which terrorists succeeded in creating panic not only in Shikarpur but also in the province of Sindh, the soil of love and peace.
He said he would like to ask the government how come the terrorists succeeded in carrying out the bomb blast at the mosque given the fact that there were 33 agencies whose task was to pre-empt terrorist incidents in the country.
Dr Niaz Kalani, vice chairman of Jeay Sindh Quami Mahaz (JSQM), said that anti-Sindh conspiracies were being hatched to destroy the spirit of peace and love on the soil of Shah Latif Bhittai.
Dr Qadir Magsi, chief of the Sindh Tarraqi Pasand Party, disagreed with the statement of the police and other agencies that the Shikarpur disaster was a suicide bomb blast. Dr Muhammad Ibrahim Jatoi, an ex-MNA, expressed his disappointment over the investigation process.