HYDERABAD/SUKKUR: The banned Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamat (ASWJ) brought out rallies in Hyderabad, Sukkur and some other towns in Sindh to mark the death anniversary of the first Rashidun caliph, Hazrat Abubakr Siddique (RA), on Sunday.

The participants raised slogans in support of their demands of national holidays on the death anniversaries of all four Rashidun caliphs, Pakistan’s full support to Saudi Arabia in the Yemen crisis, action against the elements spreading hate literature to foment sectarianism and bringing an end to the measures aimed at closure of seminaries in the name of antiterrorism operation.

In Hyderabad, a rally was taken out from Liaquat Colony which ended outside the local press club, where several ASWJ leaders including Allama Abdul Samad Hyderi and Hassan Farooqui spoke to the participants.

A conference titled ‘Syedna Siddique-i-Akbar’ was also held at Market Tower Chowk. Mufti Abdul Rahim Sikandari, Gulshan Illahi, Moharram Deen Qadri, Khalid Hassan Qadri, Syed Sajid Kazmi, Aslam Noorani and other scholars spoke at the conference.

Similar rallies were taken out in Sukkur, Jacobabad and some other towns of upper Sindh.

Allama Ramzan Nomani, Maulana Zahid Hussain Loond, Maulana Ghulam Nabi Usmani, Allama Tabassum Jafferi, Maulana Ali Sher Farooqi and others led the Sukkur rally.

The Jacobabad rally started from the ASWJ office and reached the DC Chowk, where the participants attended a public meeting.

Many ASWJ leaders addressed the participants and urged the government to observe the death anniversaries of all Rashidun caliphs at the state level and take stern action against those fomenting sectarianism.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2015

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