Arrest of religious scholar’s killers demanded

Workers of various Ahle Hadith groups on Friday condemned the killing of religious scholar Sheikh Abdul Hameed Rehmati in Peshawar, and demanded of the authorities to arrest his killers.

Unknown assailants killed Rehmati in an attack on January 16 in Peshawar when he and his brother Shiekh Mohammad Rahmati left a madrasa for a Fateha Khwani. The Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith, Jamaat Ghuraba Ahle Hadith and other Ahle Hadith groups jointly organised a protest under the banner of the Ahle Hadith Action Committee outside the Karachi Press Club, where leaders, including Muhammad Yousaf Qasuri, Hafiz Muhammad Salafi, Maulana Afzal Sardar, and Maulana Ziaur Rehman Madani, condemned Rehmati’s killing. The slain religious scholar was a moderate religious scholar and preacher of the Quran and Sunnah, they said.

They said Rehmati always spoke of sectarian harmony and advised thousands of his students to do the same. They alleged that religious leaders were being targeted under a planned agenda. They criticised the government for their failure to provide protection to the people, especially religious leaders, and demanded of the rulers take early steps to stop the serial killing of religious scholars.