SUKKUR, Dec 28: Activists of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) took out rallies in Sukkur, Jacobabad and Kandhkot on Friday against the recent attack on their leader, Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqui, in Karachi. They demanded immediate arrest of the killers.

ASWJ leaders Qari Attaullah Rehmani, Maulana Zahid Hussain Lund, Ghulam Nabi Usmani and others led a rally taken out from Lab-i-Mehran in Sukkur city. After marching on main thoroughfares of the city, the participants reached the local press club and staged a noisy demonstration condemning the attack.

The leader warned the government that if the culprits were not arrested by Jan 18, a strategy would be chalked out to hold a long march.

In Jacobabad, a rally led by Qari Ghulam Rasool Nomani, Hafiz Muhammad Yousuf Farooqui, Zamir Ahmed, Muhammad Saleem Sunni, Mufti Muhammad Faheem Banglani and others was taken out from Shaheed Allah Bakhsh Park. The participants marched on various roads before converging on the local press club, where they staged a demonstration.

In Kandhkot, Sunni Action Committee leaders Ghulam Mustafa, Maulana Asad Hyder, Anwer Farooqui and others led a protest rally taken from a school. The participants staged a demonstration at Library Chowk and called for stern action against those involved in the attack on Maulana Farooqui.

Our Mirpurkhas correspondent adds: Scores of local ASWJ leaders and workers took out a protest rally from Madina Masjid after Jumma prayers in protest against the armed attack on Maulana Farooqui and police failure to arrest the culprits.

Led by Hafiz Attaullah Haidery and Hafiz Arshad Rasheedi, the protesters raised slogans against the attackers and the police. Later, they held a demonstration at Market Chowk, where the leaders spoke to them. They said that all those involved in the attacks should be arrested immediately and punished.

They alleged that some elements within the government were protecting the terrorists.