Lahore, Oct 09: Authorities fearing violence following the assassination of a radical Sunni leader have banned demonstrations in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, officials said today. But supporters of the slain Maulana Azam Tariq, a lawmaker and the one-time leader of the outlawed Sunni extremist Sipah-e-Sahaba group, said they would stage peaceful rallies tomorrow.
"Nobody can take our right to protest," said Mujib-ur Rahman, a spokesman for Millat-e-Islamia Tariq's new political party. "We have the right to protest the killing of our leader and we promise that we won't be violent."
Tariq, who was a member of the Pakistani parliament, was killed Monday along with his three bodyguards and a driver in an ambush in Islamabad. Violence erupted Tuesday in Islamabad and Jhang, Tariq's hometown southwest of Islamabad.
District mayors responded yesterday by banning "all kinds of processions, public gatherings, and assembly of four or more people at public places," said Shoaib bin Aziz, a spokesman for the Punjab government in Lahore.
"The Punjab government made this decision yesterday to maintain peace," he said. Bureau Report