Pakistani Shi’a leader slams Nawaz Sharif’s attempts to ban mourning ceremonies

Rasa – The spiritual leader of Pakistan’s Shi’a community said that the any efforts to put pressure on the Pakistani Shi’a mourners and methods to prevent them from attending mourning ceremonies during Muharram will not be accepted.

News ID: 422715

Date: 15 August 2016 - 23:33

RNA – Speaking at the Misbah al-Uloum al-Ja’fariyah Seminary in Multan, Pakistan, Hujjat al-Islam Sayyed Sajid Ali Naqavi, the head of the Council of Shi’a Scholars of Pakistan, said that the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif warned about the arrest of Shi’a mourners during Muharram in an attempt to prevent sectarian violence in the South Asian country.

Sharif has expressed his government’s resolve to rid Pakistan of terrorism and make the country a safe place for people of all religions and ethnicities, after two Hazara Shi’a Muslims were shot dead by Takfiri terrorists in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s restive Baluchistan province, on August 8th.

The spiritual leader of Pakistan’s Shi’a community said that Muharram mourners have a centuries-long legacy in the Indian subcontinent and said the arrest of those mourning Imam al-Husayn is not acceptable in any way and this action must be immediately annulled.

Hujjat al-Islam Naqavi said that the Wahhabi ideology is widespread among Pakistani politicians and with Muharram and its mourning ceremonies starting on October 1, they are trying to put pressure on the country’s large Shi’a minority and limit these ceremonies with the excuse that they are often the targets of Wahhabi terrorists.

“The Shi’a people of Pakistan are awake and alert and won’t allow the plots of these politicians to be fulfilled,” the head of Tahrik-e Ja’fariyah said.

His Eminence said that mourning ceremonies are the capital of Shi’a Muslims and added, “Without mourning, the true identity of Shi’as will be lost. Regardless of how extremist individuals try to restrain and limit Shi’a mourning ceremonies, they will never achieve their goals and these solemn ceremonies will be held.”

Hujjat al-Islam Naqavi said the Pakistani government is aware of our words and knows that any warrant to detain those mourning for Imam al-Husayn “will be turned into halters for the officials.”

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