KARACHI - Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairman and renowned cleric Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman on Saturday warned the federal government against taking any stern action against the Tehreek Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYR) activists who were protesting for the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid for the last two weeks.
Mufti Muneeb said that the federal government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), instead of taking any action against the protestors, should send a delegation to the protestors for a dialogue.
He was talking to the media men here. Talking about the problems being faced by people as a result of the sit-in staged by Tehreek-e-Labbaik in Faizabad, Mufti Muneeb said that he was aware of the hardships being faced by people, but it was the matter of Hazrat Muhammad’s (pbuh) dignity and the Muslims could not tolerate any kind of such act.
He further said that protestors’ demands were valid and the government should take the issue seriously instead of further delaying the matter.
Criticising political parties of the country, Mufti Muneeb said that the protestors staging demonstration for the past two weeks were not hired like other political parties. “They are devoted Muslims who firmly believe in Khatm-e-Nabbuwat (the finality of prophethood,” he pointed out.
He reiterated that the protestors’ demands were legal and recommended to the ruling government to send a delegation to the demonstrators for the acceptance of their demands. “No one else, including ulemas, have an authority to negotiate with the protestors other than government officials,” Mufti Muneeb stressed and also asked the protesters to adopt a reconciliatory path to resolve the issue. Mufti Muneeb, on the occasion, also expressed displeasure over the lack of media coverage of Faizabad protest.
He said that media regulatory authority PEMRA should take steps to ensure that airing of so-called Ramazan TV shows were halted, which were damaging the real picture of Islam and Muslims.
The Islamabad administration had told the protesters on Friday to end their sit-in by 10am on Saturday; otherwise a joint operation by Rangers, Frontier Constabulary and police would be conducted to disperse them. However, after the deadline expired earlier today, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal postponed the operation for another 24 hours.
In a bid to persuade the protesters to end their sit-in peacefully, Ahsan also appealed to religious leaders to help the government resolve the issue.
It is pertinent to mention here that the around 20000 activists and supporters of TLYR, led by cleric Khadim Rizvi, have been camping on Faizabad for the past 10 days.
They are demanding the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid over a hastily brought amendment to the Prophethood Declaration Clause in the Electoral Reforms Bill 2017.
Meanwhile, TLYR Karachi chapter, expressing solidarity with the protestors of Faizabad, also staged a sit-in at Numaish Chowrangi.
They blocked the main artery of the city MA Jinnah Road, causing massive traffic jam on the surrounding roads of the respective areas. Long queues of motorists were witnessed at Gurumandir, Lasbella, Lines Area, Saddar and II Chundarigarh Road.