ISLAMABAD: The funerals of three men, who were killed when a suicide bomber attacked the Qasr-i-Sakina Imambargah, were held on Thursday. Attended by a large number of mourners and members of the Shia community, the funerals brought the Islamabad Expressway – the main artery linking the twin cities – to a complete standstill for over two hours.

On Thursday, it had been decided beforehand that there would be no protest after the funeral prayers, which were to be held at 2:00pm at the imambargah itself. However, when people began to gather for the funeral, the demands for a demonstration grew louder. At this point, the organisers decided to shift the funeral proceedings to the Expressway itself.

Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen chief Allama Nasir Abbas led the funeral prayers. He later told mediapersons that the Shia community was being targeted by extremists because of their support for Operation Zarb-i-Azb.

“We want to make it clear to the terrorists that we will continue supporting the operation. We have continuously demanded that the operation should be expanded to other areas of the country, because that is the only way terrorism can be eliminated,” he said.

MWM leader alleges Punjab govt allowing seminaries to be turned into “mini-Waziristans”

He blamed the federal and Punjab governments, saying their support for certain elements had created “mini-Waziristans” all over the country, in the shape of radical seminaries.

“We are being forced to announce a long march towards Islamabad. Our march will remove all Raisanis from government,” he said, referring to the Alamdar Road protest in Quetta, where the relatives of over 100 victims of a massive attack on Shia demanded the resignation of the then-Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani.

Both sides of Expressway were completely blocked by protesters between 2:45pm and 4:40pm. The demonstrators carried placards and chanted slogans, vowing to resist the extremists.

Hasnain Shah, one of the protesters, told Dawn that the Shia community had sacrificed many sons, but the government was not willing to act against elements involved in their killings.

“Ultimately, the country will be badly affected by this intolerance in society,” he said.

Another participant, Sajid Shah, said that if the government was not ready to protect Shias, it should say that so the Shia community could make arrangements on its own.

The protest paralysed traffic on various thoroughfares in the city. Heavy vehicles were stopped by police on IJ Principal Road, leading to a long line of trucks along the road.

Staff Reporter from Pindi adds: Even though joint police patrols are supposed to be keeping an eye on things in the twin cities, there were no patrols in the Shakrial area at the time of the Imambargah Qasr-i-Sakina bombing, sources told Dawn.

Rawalpindi SP Security Fazal-i-Hamid, who is responsible for security issues and maintainence of pickets and patrolling, visited the imambargah to inquire into the absence of police presence from the area at the time of the bombing.

An official from Sadiqabad police station told Dawn that while there was a joint patrol scheduled for that area, it was due to begin at 8:00pm.

Meanwhile, Azmat Hussain Shah, one of the men injured in the attack, said in a statement from his bed at the Benazir Bhutto Hospital that the suicide bomber had tried to blow himself up, but had died after a hand grenade he was carrying detonated.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2015

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