Thousands of Pakistanis have taken to the streets of Gilgit-Baltistan to protest the arrest of Shia cleric Agha Baqir al-Hussaini under the country’s blasphemy laws. The protesters are allegedly threatening the Pakistani administration that they want a merger with India if their leader is not released.
According to sources, people in Gilgit-Baltistan have been ruing for being “left behind” in development, and crying over the “lack of facilities”. “We have to risk our lives for small things,” is the refrain among the protesters.
The government sources in India have slammed the Pakistani administration for promoting terror and spending a huge amount of money on making bombs and training terror cadres. They say it is time for the Pakistani authorities to “accept” the voices and vacate Kashmir, which has been “illegally occupied by them”.
“Jihad cannot bring progress in people’s lives. Compare this with Jammu and Kashmir where people are happy with the development,” the sources added.
Agha Baqir al-Hussaini was booked for his remarks at an ulema council meeting in Skardu that was held to discuss the blasphemy laws to be stricter allegedly to target the Shia community.
Pakistan is a Sunni-dominated country, and Shias are present in a significant number in the country.
The Gilgit-Baltistan region is divided into three – Baltistan, Diamer and Gilgit. The main administrative centres are Gilgit and Skardu.
Mobile internet services have been suspended across the region by the authorities, as reported by Pakistani daily Dawn.
An official said an FIR had been registered against the Sunni cleric at the City Police Station Gilgit for his comments, while another FIR against a prominent Shia cleric had already been registered in Skardu, the PTI said attributing it to the newspaper.
The authorities in the area have suspended two police personnel and a schoolteacher on allegations of sharing sectarian posts on social media. Over 12 persons have been detained for posting controversial posts.
(With inputs from PTI)
Comments
0 comment