LAHORE, Dec 9: The detained chief of the defunct Islami Tehrik Pakistan has called upon his followers to launch a drive for his release.

Allama Sajid Naqvi, in a letter from the detention cell, has, however, sought that the movement should be peaceful.

The typed letter, released by the Shia Ulema Council here on Tuesday, did not carry the signature of the detained leader.

Mr Naqvi was detained around a month ago on the charge of murdering the banned outfit Millat-i-Islamia leader Maulana Azam Tariq in Islamabad.

The vice-president of the MMA alleged that the government was utilizing pressure tactics to force him to reconcile with the rival group for ensuring sectarian peace in society.

Mr Naqvi said that he had earlier conceded to the idea while demanding that such an exercise must be initiated at a committee level before engaging top leaders or scholars for the purpose.

He accused the government of thwarting the self-projected idea by first banning the Tehrik-i-Jafria Pakistan and then the Islami Tehrik Pakistan.

The Allama said he would prefer to die than to sing any such deal that restrained his followers from observing their rituals.

“They are forcing us to bow down and sit with the sectarian and terrorist group and accept its tough demands for reconciliation,” he said, adding his arrest was one of the measures in this regard.

According to him, the government wanted him to support the Shariat bill moved by the slain Maulana Azam Tariq in the National Assembly.

The authorities also desired that after reconciliation both the sectarian groups should withdraw cases against each other, paving way for release of activists of both the parties, he added.