The civil society activists, who held a number of protests against Maulana Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid and even got an FIR registered against him, have decided to give a break to their campaign and concentrate on the social media.
Jibran Nasir, one of the organisers of the protests, has moved to Karachi. However, the activists claimed that they would restart their campaign if the cleric was not arrested on January 3.
Shan Taseer, a civil society activist, would be running the campaign on the social media till 3 January.
“A number of people have shared their video statements on the social media, demanding the arrest of Maulana Aziz. I believe that the government would listen to the demands otherwise we will restart our campaign against the cleric from January 3,” he said.
It may be mentioned that after the December 16 Peshawar incident, the Lal Masjid cleric gave a controversial statement and said he cannot condemn the killing of the innocent children in Peshawar. He also refused to consider the students martyrs.
Because of the statement, the civil society activists started a protest against the cleric.
On December 26, the district court of Islamabad issued non-bailable warrants for the arrest of Maulana Aziz on the charge of threatening the protesters.
Later, the activists met Senators Saeed Ghani (PPP), Mushahid Hussain Syed (PML), Afrasiab Khattak (ANP) and Tahir Hussain Mashhadi of the MQM and demanded that the cleric should be arrested.
The activists were also trying to meet some federal ministers when a campaign started on the social media, claiming that the activists were led by a Qadiani. As a proof, a picture showing some people participating in a ‘Holi’ festival was circulated on Facebook and Twitter.
The impression that Qadianis were leading the campaign against the mosque put the civil society activists on the back foot.
But Jibran Nasir told Dawn that he was going to Karachi to meet his mother. “An FIR has been registered against Maulana Aziz and even the court has issued non-bailable warrants for his arrest.”
According to the law, he added, the police have to submit a challan to the court against the accused 14 days after the registration of an FIR. This mandatory period would end on January 3 when the court would take up the matter again.
“If the police submit the challan and arrest the suspect, we will wait for the court proceedings. But if the police demand further time for the completion of the challan, the civil society would restart its protest,” he said.
“It was unfortunate that some elements declared the civil society activists as Qadianis. I will be back to Islamabad by January 3,” he said.
Taimur Rehman, a professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (Lums), told Dawn that he had also uploaded a video on the social media because he thought it would make a difference.
“The government should take notice of the fact that Maulana Aziz is not ready to condemn the Taliban who killed innocent children in Peshawar,” he said.
Writer Mohsin Saeed, who also uploaded a video clip, said instead of using weapons he believed in raising his voice.
“I believe that difference of opinion is acceptable but violence cannot be tolerated in society. I remember that at the time of Lal Masjid operation, some people reached the mosque begging its administration to allow their children to come out, but Maulana Aziz did not hand the children to their parents.”
He said the government should accept the demands of the people who have been recording video statements on the social media for the arrest of the cleric.
