Islamabad: Hardline Pakistani clerics have
declared a senior leader of the ruling PPP and one of her
supporters as blasphemers as they supported a Shia cleric who
allegedly committed blasphemy.
The clerics from Muslimabad area of Lahore, including
Mian Attiqur Rehman, Maulana Farmaan and Maulana Muhammad
Haneef, organised a protest against Samina Khalid Ghurki, the
president of the Lahore chapter of the Pakistan Peoples Party
(PPP), and her supporter Haji Nasir outside Lahore Press Club
on Monday.
They claimed Ghurki supported Shia cleric Zulfiqar
Naqvi. The clerics further claimed that Naqvi recently
delivered a sermon in an 'imambargah' or Shia prayer hall at
the invitation of Haji Nasir.
They alleged Naqvi committed blasphemy against the
Prophet Mohammed and his followers during this sermon. The
clerics claimed they asked the police to take action against
Naqvi but this was not done as Ghurki was supporting the Shia
cleric.
During yesterday's protest, one of the clerics said
all blasphemers deserved death.
Another cleric praised Mumtaz Qadri, the police guard
who assassinated Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer for opposing
the blasphemy law, and asked all Muslims to follow in
Qadri's footsteps.
The clerics also demanded the registration of cases
against Ghurki, Haji Nasir and Naqvi under the blasphemy law.
Ghurki told the Daily Times newspaper that she was
shocked to learn that some clerics had launched a hate
campaign against her.
She said she had nothing to do with the allegations
levelled against her by the clerics. She acknowledged that
Haji Nasir was one of her supporters in her constituency but
said she had no frequent contacts with him.
Ghurki also said that Haji Nasir and a cleric named
Attiqur Rehman had a dispute over a plot of land in the area.
Rehman went to court over the case, she said.
After failing to get a decision in his favour, Rehman
was now using religion to settle scores against Haji Nasir,
she alleged.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, July 05, 2011, 22:47