LAHORE – Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Tuesday sought appearance of National College of Arts (NCA) Principal and editorial board’s members for publishing some sacrilegious images in annual magazine of the institute.
The chief justice directed the respondents to appear in person before the court on July 18.
Zulfqar Mangit advocate filed the petition and submitted that some heretical images had been published in the annual magazine namely SOHBAT of NCA. He said the principal and the members committed a serious crime by publishing nude pictures in its annual magazine and also violated the Islamic values. The petitioner said they were on an agenda of spreading caricatures and promoting anti-Islamic thoughts.
The petitioner added he studied thoroughly the SOHBET magazine, and it was third addition of the magazine but unfortunately it was spreading obscenity in this society.
Mangit pointed out that the same journal was published by many other people including Atteqa Ali, Sarooch Irfani, Ayesha Jatoe and Naazish Ata Ullah and they were the team of editorial board.
The magazine ‘SOHBET’ was joint adventure of National College of Arts and Nine Two Private Limited and this project was being headed by accused professor Sajja Kausar Principal National College of Arts and Muhammad Ali. He contended the article contending obscene material was written by Asim Akhtar and such publications were not reasonable to be published in any Muslim Community. He said obscene snaps and article consisting vulgarity should be banned. He requested the court to ban the publication of said magazine. He argued that the images had created unrest among the Muslims community. The images had also made mockery the teachings of Islam, the petitioner pleaded.
He requested the court to issue directions to authorities to take action against those staff of NCA involved in publishing such humiliated material.