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LAHORE, March 3: Sanitary workers of the Solid Waste Management wing of the City District Government of Lahore and other Christian employees have announced three-day mourning for slain minister Shahbaz Bhatti.
No Christian worker would perform his or her duties during the mourning, the Masihi Sanitary Workers Ittehad, Lahore, decided in a meeting at Jain Mandir offices of the SWM here on Thursday.Sweepers' Union president Mushtaq Aasi, Sanitary Workers Action Committee president P Minchal, Jharoo Kash Mazdoor Union office-bearers Pervaiz Akhtar Naz, Khalid Masih and George Masih, Field Workers Association's Siddiq Lumberdar, Pervaiz Ghauri, Inayat Sahotra, Fareed Ghauri, George Sahotra and Chaudhry Asghar spoke at the meeting and demanded immediate arrest of the killers.
Meanwhile, Centre for Human Rights Education Chairman Fr William Basharat and director Samson Salamat has appealed to fellow citizens to play their role to save the multi-religious recognition of the Pakistani society from the hands of religious extremists and fundamentalists.
In a joint statement on Thursday, they said the cold-blooded murder of Shahbaz Bhatti was an irreparable loss for the country. “It is the murder of tolerance, diversity and respect for human rights in the country, especially for religious minorities.”
They said the government should arrest the killers and bring them to justice as soon as possible and take concrete measures to ensure safety and security of those who were threatened publicly by extremists. The elements inciting hatred and violence should be charged, they said. RALLIES:
Workers of various Christian organisations continued holding demonstrations outside the Lahore Press Club on Thursday to protest the assassination of the federal minister.
The Pakistan Central Christian Action Committee staged a rally from Simla Pahari to Charing Cross.
Led by former minority councillor of Lahore Munir Masih Khokhar, Fr Javed Iqbal, Saleem Sandhu, Shaukat Gill and others, the participants were carrying placards, condemning terrorism in the name of religion.
The participants decided to hold a demonstration at 2pm on Friday (today) at Dubai Chowk in Saddar to protest the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti.
Another rally was led by Pakistan Masiha Millat Party Sindh president Dr Liaquat Munawwar and Punjab president Aslam Sahotra.
Holding placards and banners, the protestors shouted slogans against the federal government for its failure to intercept activities of religious extremists.
