ISLAMABAD: Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) has warned the government against placing restrictions on Azadari processions and majalis and cautioned the authorities against giving too much leverage to banned sectarian outfits, claiming these groups would eventually spread terror in the country.

Addressing a news conference on Tuesday, MWM General Secretary Syed Nasir Abbas Shirazi said Pakistan was witnessing rising terror attacks in several parts of the country resulting in the loss of lives of security personnel.

“The country is also facing one of the worst floods of its history but, unfortunately, the state has not played its role,” Mr Shirazi said. Despite the floods, processions of Imam Husain’s chehlum had been held even in the affected areas, but only to please the banned groups authorities registered FIRs against citizens who participated in the processions.

Mr Shirazi said people walked to the shrines of Abdullah Shah Ghazi, Data Ganj Bakhsh Hajveri, Shahbaz Qalandar and others to participate in their Urs.

“But why restrictions were being imposed on people walking to the processions now?” He said religious freedom was the right guaranteed in the Constitution.

“But 13 FIRs have been registered in Multan and participants of the procession were booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act in Sargodha and in Sialkot. There were also incidents of firing and pelting the chehlum procession with stones by members of a banned sectarian group.” Mr Shirazi alleged.

“The authorities must remember that these were the same persons who have been supporting the international terror group, Daesh, committed the gruesome attack at APS Peshawar and were the main reasons for getting Pakistan into the FATF grey list.”

The MWM leader also criticised the local administrations for attempting to change trustees in an imambargah in Nowshera and in the anjuman that holds the licence for taking out the main Chehlum procession in Karachi.

“An FIR has also been filed against the founder of an imambargah in G-7, Islamabad, only because the authorities wanted to harass him,” he said.

When told that organisers of the majalis and processions did not observe the timings, the MWM leader referred to an FIR that was registered as the procession started 15 minutes late, which he said was unfair.

He announced that the MWM will call a nationwide meeting of concerned people over the repressive attitude of the authorities.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2022