ISLAMABAD: Possibly to avoid another embarrassment, the capital administration on Friday did not allow the proscribed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) to take out a rally. However, the party claimed that there was no official pressure for the cancellation of the rally.

The local administration had been under criticism for allowing the proscribed ASWJ to hold a public rally on Oct 28 despite the imposition of Section 144 in the city. Sectarian slogans were chanted during the gathering.

The ASWJ later announced to hold ‘Tahfuz-i-Harmain Sharifain’ rallies across the country against a missile strike towards Saudi Arabia by the Houthi rebels that the Saudi government claimed was targeted at Makkah.

Invitations were sent to the media repeatedly through emails and SMS that the rally would be held from Lal Masjid after Friday prayers.

However, at around 11am, another message was received by the media that the protest rally had been cancelled.

There was no reason for the cancellation of the rally and some mediapersons reached Lal Masjid to monitor the situation but found no unusual activity there.

ASWJ spokesman Hafiz Oneeb Farooqui said the rally was cancelled by the party leadership but added that he had no idea for the abrupt decision.

“We see the situation in Karachi and, possibly, the top leadership had some anticipation of a terror attack in Islamabad,” Mr Farooqui said. “We held rallies across the country, including in Lahore, Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar and scores of small cities and towns.”

The rallies are being held to protest the missile strike towards Saudi Arabia by the Houthi rebels that was shot down well before the limits of the Makkah city.

On the other hand, officials of the capital administration confided that there was serious political and social pressure on the government for allowing the group to hold the rally.

“The government was already under criticism over the October 28 rally by the ASWJ as it was held just a day following the police action against a workers’ convention of the PTI,” said an assistant commissioner requesting not to be named. “I have said this earlier too and I am really confused if Aabpara is a part of Islamabad or not as the banned party can do whatever it likes there,” said Asad Umar, the PTI lawmaker from Islamabad.

He added: “The situation shows that there is no issue of law and legal standing but just the will of the government.”

The ASWJ maintained that the October 28 gathering was a traditional party event held after getting permission from the deputy commissioner Islamabad.

However, regarding the Friday rally, Deputy Commissioner Mushtaq Ahmed said the ASWJ wanted to push ahead with its rally without any permission.

“There was no NOC for this rally from Lal Masjid, and we categorically told them not to go ahead with any illegal activity - and they stopped it,” he added.

Last rallies by ASWJ were held in May 2015 soon after the Saudi Arabia-led coalition of nine Middle Eastern countries launched a military operation in Yemen.

Published in Dawn November 5th, 2016