ISLAMABAD : On the third consecutive day of the protest against Maulana Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid on Saturday, the deputy khateeb of the mosque along with representatives of the federation of seminaries joined the civil society activists to condemn the massacre of schoolchildren in Peshawar.
The civil society activists started their protest against Maulana Aziz after he refused to condemn the killing of schoolchildren three days ago.
Read: Islamabad stands firm on Lal Masjid
For two days, the protest was held in front of the mosque during which the cleric threatened the protesters with dire consequences. As a result, the police registered cases against both sides.
On Saturday, when the civil society activists reached outside the National Press Club at 4pm, they were surprised to see Lal Masjid Naib Khateeb Maulana Amir Siddique and leaders of Wafaqul Madaris al Arabia (WMA) along with scores of students from seminaries already staging a protest against the Peshawar incident.
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A large number of police officials were also deployed at the spot.
Deputy khateeb, other clerics join civil society to condemn Peshawar carnage
A police officer said his men would stand between both the groups to avoid any clash, but the civil society activists and the religious scholars talked to each other and decided to stand side by side as the goal of their protest was the same.
WMA spokesman Maulana Abdul Quddus said Wafaqul Madaris al Arabia was the biggest network with around 20,000 seminaries and two million students.
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“WMA condemns the Peshawar incident and has held prayers for the children who were killed in the attack. We believe that all children who died during attacks in Peshawar, tribal areas, Karachi and other parts of the country are martyrs,” he said.
