SUKKUR, Feb 22: Many cities and towns in different districts of the province remained in the grip of sectarian tension in the aftermath of the Feb 16 bomb attack on followers of the Shia sect belonging to Hazara community in Quetta and the Feb 20 attack on the caravan of a spiritual leader in Jacobabad. Over 90 people were killed and as many others wounded in the Quetta carnage and the Jacobabad blast left a grandson of Hussaini Jamaat spiritual leader Sain Syed Ghulam Hussain Shah Bukhari dead.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday spoke to Syed Shah Bukhari and condoled with him the demise of his grandson, Syed Shafique Hussain Shah, in the bomb blast, sources in Larkana said.

The president also inquired about his health and assured him that the culprits would be arrested soon.

Crowds of people continued to reach Hussain Abad from all parts of Sindh to offer their condolences to the spiritual leader. Qambar town remained partially closed to mourn his grandson’s death.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (Noorani group) Larkana division chief Hafiz Ahmed Ali Abbasi led a demonstration held in Larkana city to condemn the bomb attack and urged the government to expose and arrest all those involved in the attack.

They participants staged a sit-in in front of Jinnahbagh and demanded an expedited investigation into the incident.

Jamaat-i-Islami leaders Asadullah Bhutto and Kashif Saeed also led a procession which set off from the local JI office on Bundar Road and culminated at Jinnahbagh.

They said the bomb attack was a deep-rooted conspiracy to disintegrate the Ummah.

Sectarian tension gripped the entire Jacobabad district as soon as the news of the attack was aired by electronic channels on Wednesday. Most areas of the district have been observing a shutterdown since then.

A shutterdown was observed in Mirpur Mathelo, Pannu Aqil, Khanpur Mahar, Daharki and Ubauro while protest rallies and demonstrations were held in all big and small towns of the district for the third consecutive day, Friday.

Reports from Mirpur Mathelo suggested that armed activists asked traders and shopkeepers in Shahi Bazaar, Old Market, City Road, Sarrafa Bazaar, Doctors Area and other areas to keep their businesses closed in protest against police failure to find a clue to the culprits. However, vehicular traffic remained thin as fuel stations did not open in the morning.

The Jacobabad section of the National Highway remained blocked for two hours due to a sit-in staged by disciples of the spiritual leader demanding arrest of the attackers and protection to religious leaders in the district.

Sunni Tehreek (ST), Jamaat Ahle Sunnat (JAH), Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) and the Hussaini Jamaat organised a number of protest rallies and sit-ins in various cities and towns and demanded stern action against those undermining sectarian harmony in certain parts of the country.

Protest rallies and demonstration also continued in Hyderabad where activists of the Anjuman Naujawanan-i-Islam and the Sunni Ittehad Council took to the streets and converged on the local press club to condemn failure of the Jacobabad administration to arrest those involved in the attack even after a lapse of three days.

“The forces behind the targeted attack on Pir Bukhari and other religious figures in Sindh are bent upon vitiating the peaceful atmosphere in the province,” local leaders of the two organisations told the protesters.

Scores of ASWJ activists and supporters held a demonstration and marched through the streets of Dadu on Friday to condemn the bomb attack on Pir Bukhari and death of his grandson.

A large number of civil society activists and members of the general public joined in the rally which was led by ASWJ district chief Abdul Waheed Qureshi and some other religious scholars.

Similar rallies were taken out in Bhan Saeedabad, Sehwan, Kotri, Johi, Khairpur Nathan Shah and Mehar towns.

ST activists in Mirpurkhas took out a rally from Darul Uloom Kanzul Iman which passed through the main thoroughfares of the city and culminated at the local press club, where a noisy demonstration was held.

Hafiz Mehmood Ahmed Qadri, Mufti Shareef Saeedi and Iltimas Sabir Qadri spoke to the participants and condemned the Quetta carnage, terrorist attacks targeted against Pir Bukhari and certain other leaders of Sunni and Shia sects with the aim of triggering sectarian violence across the country.

They also condemned the unabated targeted killing on political and other grounds in Karachi and said that a number of ST workers had been gunned down in that city and the law-enforcement agencies had absolutely failed to check terrorists, who had been holding the city and the people at the helm of affairs hostage for long.

Meanwhile, four activists of a sectarian organisation were booked at the Old Mirpur police station late on Thursday night on charges of provoking sectarian tension by raising objectionable slogans in the public and writing them on walls in the city.

An FIR under Section 295-A (Deliberate or malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Pakistan Penal Code was lodged against Abid Raza, Syed Ali Gohar Shah, Najaf Pahelwani and Asad Khaskheli on a complaint of an ASWJ activist, Athar Ali Qureshi.

ST, ASH and Jamiat Ahle Saleheen took out a joint rally in Shikarpur and held a demonstration after Juma prayers in protest against the attack on Syed Shah Bukhari.

The rally was led by Maulana Basheer Ahmed Lashari, Lala Tariq Pathan, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Mustufai, Maulana Habibullah Qadri, Rajib Ali Soomro and others.

Demonstrations were also held at Rustam Road Chowk, Lakhi Gate, Clock Tower Chowk and outside the local press club.