Registration of cases: Police biased against mourners: MWM

ISLAMABAD: Central Deputy Secretary General of Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) Pakistan, Syed Nasir Shirazi, on Friday said the police were biased while registering cases against the mourners of Karbala tragedy.

Speaking at the news conference at the Central Secretariat of MWM along with the central leaders, he said the registration of cases was being done at the behest of those elements who wanted to sabotage remembrance of the grandson of Holy Prophet (PBUH). “We do not want to spark public backlash, but if this trend does not stop, the Shia community will take to the streets.

A few days ago, there was a gathering of thousands of devotees at the Data Darbar, where the police did not take action against any person but, on the other hand, cases were registered against the mourners at Karbala Gamay Shah opposite the Data Darbar. These double standards of the Punjab Police are highly regrettable,” he said.

He called for the interior ministry to resolve the issue through dialogue. He said the people would naturally react to the efforts being made to curtail mourning of the martyrs of Karbala. He said the issue should be resolved before the people take to the streets.

He said the Pakistani pilgrims (Zaireen) were discriminated in the name of coronavirus restrictions, adding the pilgrims are required to be retested for the coronavirus on return. But they are tested before departure and visitors are being quarantined for 24 hours despite the test being negative, which is beyond understanding. He said if thousands of people started gathering at the airports to welcome the pilgrims, problems would increase for the concerned institutions.

He said the administration was obstructing the observance of Ashura in Bahawalnagar, adding the DPO, who claimed to be a relative of the Punjab chief minister, manifest intolerable behavior towards the mourners. He said religious freedom is our Constitutional right and we will not allow anyone to deprive us of this inalienable right.