The city police have booked banned Sipah-e-Sahaba leaders Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi and Dr Khadim Hussain Dalo for addressing a public gathering in Islamabad. Margalla police registered an FIR under section 11-G of Anti Terrorism Act (ATC) against the said leaders for addressing a Seerat Conference on Friday in Sector G/9 and sealed the FIR. Police sources said both the leaders – Maulana Ludhianvi and Khadim Dalo – were restricted to Kamalia district and Kanewal district respectively. The sources said the interior ministry had written a letter to the Punjab Home Department for registration of a case against the said leaders in their home districts as well. It is pertinent to mention that Interior Minister Rehman Malik had suspended Margalla Police SHO Irshad Ali Abro on Saturday for allowing the leaders of a banned outfit to address a conference in Islamabad.
Earlier, State Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) Sheikh Waqas Akram criticised Rehman Malik on the floor of House for allowing a banned outfit to hold a rally in the federal capital. However, Malik told the House he had no knowledge of the pubic meeting.
Later on Saturday, the interior minister took ‘notice’ of the issue and suspended Margalla Police SHO Irshad Ali Abro. Meanwhile, police sources said the SHO was made a scapegoat as he had nothing to do with the public procession.
He had just provided security to participants of the processions to avoid any untoward incident, they added. The sources said the organisers took out the rally after the consent of district administration and high-ups of other concerned departments.
A senior police officer said there were 306 police personnel on security including AIG Special Branch, area AC, Additional Deputy Commissioner and others to give protection to the conference. He said the SHO was legally bound to give security cover to the participants. “When Malik faced heated debate in the Assembly for his failure regarding banned outfit’s procession, he made the SHO a scapegoat to cover the issue,” said the official. A source in district administration said the traders of G/9 had been holding seerat conference for the last 17 years, so there was no need of taking NOC from the local administration.
Finally at least some action has been taken on the issue, but the government should also work towards eradicating IEDs from Pakistan.
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