SUKKUR: The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl organised rallies in several towns of the interior of Sindh on Friday against a bomb attack on its central leader Akram Khan Durrani, who is the federal minister for housing, in Bannu. Mr Durrani escaped unhurt in the attack on his convoy but the blast left two persons dead and another three wounded.

JUI-F activists and supporters in almost all cities and towns of Sindh took out rallies and demonstrations after Friday prayers to condemn the attack.

In Sukkur and Jacobabad, protesters held sit-ins at various places demanding that the culprits be arrested and all those behind the attack be exposed.

Participants in the Jacobabad rally were carrying banners, placards and party flags and raising slogans against terrorists and anti-social elements.

They started their march from the party’s district office and reached the DC Chowk where they held a sit-in. Vehicular traffic on the thoroughfare and all roads leading to it remained suspended during the course of the protest.

Speaking to the protesters, JUI-F district chief Dr A.G. Ansari, Hafiz Meer Mohammed Banglani, Maulana Abdul Jabbar Rind, Maulana Abid Abro, Maulana Taj Muhammed Channa and others said that JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and many other senior party leaders, besides its activists, had constantly been attacked over the past few years. The party’s Sindh chief Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro lost his life in a similar attack, they said.

They said the JUI-F was being punished for struggling against sectarianism and secularism.In Sukkur, JUI-F activists and supporters led by Maulana Muhammad Saleh Indhar, Mufti Saud Halejvi, Maulana Ubaidullah Bhutto and Mufti Meharuddin Malano took out a rally from Madressah Mazharul Uloom at Manzil Gah.

The participants marched through various roads and reached the local press club, where they held a demonstration.

The leaders condemned the government for not providing security even to its ministers if they belonged to other parties and not the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

In Shikarpur, a rally was led by Maulana Muhammad Yaqoob Soomrani Sharif, Maulana Abdullah Jarar Sharif, Maulana Abdul Bari and others.

They condemned the unending acts of terrorism against the JUI-F leadership and said that foreign forces were bent upon eliminating leaders of religious organisations in Pakistan.

They demanded a strict check on ‘international terrorist forces’ at work in the country. They vowed to continue their struggle for the enforcement of a truly Islamic system in the country.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2015