FAISALABAD, Jan 19: The district administration recalled the banishment of a Karachi-based prominent Shia cleric after around 2,000 people staged a demonstration to protest the decision here on Saturday.

Allama Majid Raza Abidi addressed mourners at Faisalabad’s main imambargah, Azaa Khana-i-Shabbir, near Dhobi Ghat, during various Majalis in the first week of Muharram.

However, he could not deliver his sermon in Saturday’s Majlis because the district administration had told him to leave the district on Friday on the pretext that he was on the hit-list of perpetrators and could be attacked any time.

The two-hour Majlis that was to be addressed by Allama Abidi at Aza Khana-i-Shabbir at 7am on Saturday delayed for hours after the banishment decision was conveyed to the organisers.

However, mourners including men, women and children remained stick to their positions and later they staged a protest demonstration.

They marched toward main vans terminus on Kotwali Road while chanting slogans against the government. They also resorted to beating their chests, urging the authorities concerned to recall the decision and allow Allama Abidi to deliver his scheduled sermon.

The spontaneous protest baffled the district administration and the police high-ups and extra troops in anti-riot gear were immediately sent to avert any untoward incident.

Following the development, DCO Azam Suleman, DIG Operations Mohammad Aslam Tareen and other officials held a meeting and reviewed the critical situation. Members of the district peace committee were also called by the administration to help diffuse the situation.

The protesters later dispersed peacefully after staging a sit-in at the main terminus in front of Kotwali police station after they were told that the administration had recalled Allama Abidi’s banishment. Jaffar Shah, a representative of Shia community and member of the peace committee, told Dawn that the district administration sought Allama Abidi’s undertaking to the effect that he would refrain from delivering any provocative speech.

He said the district administration was of the view that the cleric was expelled from the district as a precautionary measure to safeguard his life because as he was on the hit-list of terrorists and could be attacked any time.

It is pertinent to mention that Allama Abdi is the only prominent Shia cleric who has been allowed by the administration to deliver sermons at Majalis during Muharram.—Staff Correspondent