KARACHI, Mach 5: People commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussain and his companions cannot be frightened into abandoning the tradition by killings, said a noted Indian scholar here on Friday.

Speaking at a meeting held to condole the deaths of victims of terrorist attacks in Quetta and Iraq, Ayatullah Aqeel al-Gharvi said the mourning tradition would continue even in the face of threat of death.

He said not only the Shias, but also the lovers of Hazrat Ali among the Ahl-i-Sunnat had offered numerous sacrifices for the descendants of the Holy Prophet. The Ayatullah said those who perpetrated the heinous crime on the 10th of Muharram could not be described as belonging to a Muslim sect.

Speaking on the occasion, Maulana Asghar Dars said those involved in the killings in Quetta, Karbala and Baghdad on Yaum-i-Ashur could not be called Muslims.

Quoting from the Quran, Maulvi Iqbal Haider said the man who killed another human was like the one who killed the entire humanity and hence was condemnable. The speakers urged the followers of both the Sunni and Shia schools of thought to maintain sectarian harmony and not to be provoked by a few miscreants among their ranks.