Religious groups to observe strike today over Maulana Adil’s assassination

Leaders of the Karachi Ulema Committee (KUC) announced on Thursday that a countrywide strike would be observed today and demonstrations would be held after Friday prayers against the murder of Jamia Farooqia head Maulana Adil Khan and his driver in Shah Faisal Colony on October 10.

Also, Karachi police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon, who is leading a four-member high-level inquiry committee to probe the Maulana Adil’s killing, met KUC leaders, including Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi and Qari Allah Dad, to discuss progress in the probe.

After mustering support from various religious groups and trader bodies for today’s strike, KUC leaders, including Farooqi, Dad and Maulana Iqbalullah, told a press conference that the failure to arrest the killers of Maulana Adil raised a serious question mark on the performance of the federal and Sindh governments and law enforcement agencies.

The KUC is a forum of religious leaders belonging to the Deobandi school of thought. Farooqi appealed to the people, traders and transporters to make the strike a success by keeping their businesses shut and vehicles off the road. “The KUC had given the government 48 hours to arrest the murderers of Maulana Adil, but it failed to arrest the culprits,” he said.

The KUC leaders also criticised the Sindh government for withdrawing security from prominent religious scholars who, they said, had been facing threats. “We showed patience and decided to observe a peaceful strike after consultation with the clerics,” Dad said.

Meanwhile, the Wifaqul Madaris Al-Arabia, a representative board of Deobandi madrasas, also announced it would back the KUC’s strike call. In a joint statement, WMAA President Maulana Abdul Razzaq Iskandar, Maulana Anwaar Ul Haq Haqqani, Qari Hanif Jalandhri, Maulana Qazi Abdul Rasheed, Maulana Imdadullah Yousafzai and others said the strike was the starting point of a protest movement over the murder Maulana Adil. They warned that if the government failed to arrest his murderers, they would opt for other forms of protest.

Mufti Munibur Rehman, head of the Ittihad Tanzimat Madaris, a board of Barelvi seminaries, also announced support for the KUC’s call and said Maulana Adil’s murder was a great loss for the entire country.

Earlier, Additional IG Karachi Dr Ghulam Nabi Memon, along with senior police officers, including DIG Counter-Terrorism Department Omar Shahid Hamid, met KUC leaders at a seminary in Mehmoodabad to discuss the progress in the investigation.

The Sindh IGP formed the four-member inquiry committee, headed by Memon, on Tuesday to probe Maulana Adil’s targeted killing. Dad said the police committee members informed the KUC leaders about the progress in the case and said they were still chasing the killers and had made a sketch of one of the three suspects.