Religious leader held in Quetta: Violation of entry ban
By Our Correspondent
QUETTA, March 13: Allama Syed Jan Ali Shah Kazmi, a highly-respected Shia religious scholar, was arrested when he arrived here at the Quetta airport on Saturday
, triggring a noisy protest from his followers who had come to receive him at the airport.
Officials of law-enforcement agencies claimed that the Allama was arrested for violating a ban on his entry to the province.
The ban was imposed after firing on an Aashura mourning procession in Quetta which left 45 people dead and 160 injured.
The arrest of the Shia leader was resisted by his followers and this caused a mayhem at the airport and delayed PIA flights to Lahore and Islamabad.
Allama Kazmi came to attend a condolence meeting arranged for those died in the Quetta tragedy.
"We have registered a case against Allama Kazmi under MPO 13 and 16," the Quaidabad police station officials confirmed.
The Airport Security Force closed down the main gate towards the airport terminal building when supporters of Allama Kazmi started protest, chanting slogans against the government in front of the airport building.
Some of the protesters laid themselves before the vehicles, witness said. However, on the insistence of elders, the protestors ended their protest and dispersed.
Top officials of the Balochistan police and Frontier Corps were called out who blocked the main gate to the airport and it continued for about five hours and the large number of Lahore and Islamabad-bound passengers could not reach the airport terminal and missed their fights due to blockade.
"Only 24 passenger managed to reach the terminal," PIA officials at the Quetta airport told this correspondent, adding that 75 Islamabad and Lahore-bound passengers could not board due to the blockade.
Meanwhile, Allama Yaqoob Ali Tawasoli, a leader of Imam-i-Jumma organization, condemned the arrest of Allama Kazmi and demanded his immediate release.
Talking to this correspondent, Allama Tawasoli said that Allama Kazmi did not commit any crime as he came to Quetta to attend a religious ceremony for those who died in the recent attack on an Ashura procession.
