KARACHI, April 14: The Anjuman Talaba-i-Islam on Friday announced 10-day mourning, till April 21, across the country and the Azad Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the Nishtar Park tragedy besides a two-day peaceful protest in educational institutions on April 18 and 19 against the carnage.
It held top government officials responsible for the incident, saying it was mulling over lodging an FIR of the murder of ATI’s Secretary General, Pir Muhammad Peeral, and other martyrs against them.
Speaking at a news conference, ATI Central President Ramzan Mughal termed the Nishtar Park blast as a sinister conspiracy to wipe out the Ahle Sunnat leaders.
“We think the government is indirectly involved in this conspiracy, which was carried out in a very technical manner so that leaders of the Ahle Sunnat parties and organisations are wiped out. And government elements have been successful to some extent,” he alleged.
Mughal was of view that the carnage was aimed at distracting people’s attention from the blasphemous cartoon controversy. Another aim of the blast was to create aversion among Ahle Sunnat people for the religious parties, he said.
About its future line of action, he said the ATI would observe mourning till April 21 across the country and the AJK and peaceful protests in educational institutions of the country on April 18 and 19, during which students would wear black armbands.
A yaum-i-dua (prayer day) will be observed on April 20 and a call has been given for April 21 to observe countrywide protest demonstrations, he added.
He said the ATI had constituted two committees for financial aid of the martyrs and injured belonging to the association.
He demanded of the government to publish details of the receipt of compensation, by Nishtar Park martyrs’ families and injured, in media.
He asked Ahle Sunnat leaders to devise a stricter line of action if the government failed to arrest the culprits within the given deadline and constitute a ‘Rehbar’ council comprising important figures of Ahle Sunnat organisations. — PPI
