KARACHI, July 14: The assassination of Shia leader Allama Hasan Turabi on Friday in a suicide attack has evoked widespread condemnation with opposition leaders asking the government to step down.
The suicide bomber carried out the attack shortly after Allama Turabi made a hard-hitting speech against Israel at a rally organised by MMA to mark Friday as Solidarity Day with Palestinians as announced by Qazi Hussain Ahmed, President of the alliance.
While leaders of all major political parties have strongly condemned the attack, those of the opposition parties said the incident exposed the government’s hollow claims of improving law and order and represented yet another example of its failure in providing security to people.
They were of the view that the government, which had failed in apprehending the culprits of Nishtar Park blast and assassinations of Mufti Shamzai, Abdullah Murad, Munawwar Suhrawardy and others, had no locus standi for being in office. They warned that people would hold rulers accountable for such killings.
They termed Allama Turabi’s killing a great loss because he had always been advocating sectarian harmony and tolerance.
MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed was shocked over the tragic demise of Allama Hasan Turabi, a central leader of the alliance, and termed it a great loss for the nation and the MMA. He said his killing was a conspiracy to weaken the alliance of religious parties at a time when the US and Israel were threatening Iran with invasion after Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon. “The motive is to divide the Ummah on sectarian and regional basis.” He advised Muslims to remain calm and alert to face such a situation.
Paying rich tribute to Allama Hasan Turabi for his role in unifying various sects and bringing different schools of thoughts closer to each other, Qazi Hussain Ahmed said his demise would hamper such efforts.
President of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan Shah Mohammad Anas Siddiqui , Supreme Council Chairman Prof Shah Faridul Haq, Mufti Jameel Ahmad Naeemi, Allama Hasan Haqqani and others also condemned the killing and observe that the incident only proved that the lawlessness reigned supreme and the government had totally failed in discharging its responsibilities. They demanded resignation of governor, chief minister, home minister and officials of the secret agencies for failing to provide security to citizens. They also felt the incident was a conspiracy to undermine sectarian harmony.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement founder Altaf Hussain said that the killing of Allama Hasan Turabi was a conspiracy to destroy peace in the Karachi. In his statement, Mr Hussain termed it ‘a blatant act of terrorism’ and claimed that today’s incident was part of the conspiracy hatched by enemies of Pakistan to destroy peace in the city, province and the whole country.
Mr Hussain called upon leaders of all sects to remain calm and play their due role in maintaining peace in the city.
He appealed to the president, prime minister, governor and chief minister to ensure handing exemplary punishment to culprits.
PPP Deputy Secretary General Mian Raza Rabbani, condemning Allama Turabi’ assassination, called it the government’s failure in maintaining law and order.
The government had also failed in apprehending the culprits of Nishtar Park incident and killers of a large number of religious and political figures. As such, it had no right to remain in the office, he argued.
PPP Sindh chief Syed Qaim Ali Shah deploring the killing and alleged the government had become a ‘security risk’ as it had failed to provide security to people. It should step down forthwith, he added.
Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Nisar Ahmed Khuhro also called for the government’s immediate resignation, saying that instead of providing security to people, the regime was engaged in harassing and victimising its political opponents.
Awami National Party leader Amin Khatak said that Allama Turabi was a brave and outspoken campaigner against dictatorship who always promoted democracy and worked for the supremacy of the parliament and Constitution.
Criticising the government for failing to apprehend assassins of any religious or political leader, Mr Khatak said that in this case, the government should have no difficulty in reaching the killers because the head of the suicide bomber was also found at the scene and shown by some TV channels. He said that if the government tried to hush it up, people would not spare it because they had become fed up with its ‘foul play’.
PML-N leader and a former Sindh governor Mamnoon Hussain said the demise of Allama Turabi was a great loss for the whole nation because the deceased had contributed great services for sectarian harmony in the country. At crucial times, he had played a significant role in frustrating the elements working against peace, harmony and amity, he noted.
He said that Allama Turabi was a staunch believer in democracy and a bold critic of the present government.
He recalled that the April 6 attempt on his life, and regretted the government must take the responsibility for the security lapse that led to his assassination on Friday.
Sardar Rahim of PML-N, deploring the killing, said the incident would have deep political implication as the deceased was a staunch critic of the American and Israeli policies and had never minced his words in criticising the regime for looking at the world through Washington’s eyes.
