Lawyer and activist Jibran Nasir, one of the main organisers behind the Lal Masjid protests in Islamabad, on Monday received a threatening phone call from an individual claiming to be Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaatul Ahrar’s spokesman.
A man claiming to be Ehsanullah Ehsan asked Nasir to end the protests, or “be ready for consequences”.
Nasir however remained defiant and determined to continue the protest, despite the threat.
“We’ve told him we are standing firm,” the activist said on social media.
According to the audio recording, a man claiming to be Ehsanullah Ehsan told Jibran Nasir that by continuing with the protests against Lal Masjid, both Nasir and the demonstrators were putting themselves in danger. The caller further said that Jamaatul Ahrar should not be considered weak/unable to act.
Jibran Nasir maintained that until and unless the mosque begins to spread the message of peace he would continue to stand against Lal Masjid’s administration.
The first protest against the Lal Masjid administration took place on Thursday evening when a large number of civil society activists, politicians and students arrived at the mosque chanting slogans against its chief cleric Abdul Aziz and lighting candles as part of a vigil for the victims of the siege of Peshawar’s Army Public School.
The activists had come out in response to a statement by Aziz in which he had refused to condemn the massacre of students and teachers in Peshawar.
However, when the protests did not stop for a third day, to ease the pressure on the mosque’s administration, the deputy khateeb of Lal Masjid along with representatives of the federation of seminaries joined the civil society activists to condemn the massacre.
Aziz had however threatened the protesters with dire consequences on the second day of the demonstrations, following which, the police had registered cases against both sides.
