ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities on Tuesday released on bail two ultra-right religious party leaders whose followers have shut down major cities demanding stricter application of stringent laws on blasphemy against Islam.
In November last year, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, the leader of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP) party, and Pir Afzal Qadri, a co-founder, led nationwide protests and threatened Supreme Court judges over the acquittal and release of a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who had spent eight years on death row on a blasphemy conviction.
Qadri, who is one of the TLP’s co-founders, had even called for the killing of the Supreme Court judges who acquitted Asia Bibi, as well as the overthrow of the government and the powerful army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa. On May 1 this year, Qadri resigned from the TLP citing health issues and issued a public apology for his remarks.
Local media reported that a two-member bench comprising Justice Qasim Ali Khan and Justice Asjad Javed Gharal had granted bail to Rizvi and Qadri till July 15 against surety bonds of Rs5 million each.
Pakistani Information Minister at the time, Fawad Chaudhry, had said last year that Rizvi and three others had been “charged under sections of sedition and terrorism.”
“Today we have decided to take legal action against the TLP leadership,” Chaudhry told a press conference on December 1. “All those who were directly involved in destroying property, who misbehaved with women, who set fire to buses, are being charged under laws of terrorism at different police stations.”
Chaudhry said more than 3,000 TLP members were taken into protective custody in the wake of the protests last year.
The move represented a hardening of the authorities’ stance toward the TLP, which in late 2017 paralyzed the capital Islamabad for several weeks and clashed with the police in deadly protests.
In 2017 and last year, TLP members called off protests only after negotiating with the military and reaching a deal with the government, which made many concessions to appease the group.
The TLP’s main focus is protecting Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy laws. It was founded out of a movement supporting a bodyguard who assassinated Punjab provincial governor Salman Taseer for advocating for Asia Bibi in 2011.
Blasphemy is a deeply emotive issue in Pakistan and officials have been unnerved by how much support Rizvi’s TLP has garnered across the country in the two years since the group entered mainstream politics.
Last week, Bibi’s lawyer told Arab News she had finally left Pakistan for Canada.
Pakistani clerics who opposed Asia Bibi's blasphemy acquittal get bail
Pakistani clerics who opposed Asia Bibi's blasphemy acquittal get bail
- Tehreek-e-Labbaik party has shut down major cities, destroyed property, threatened top government, military and court figures
- Party leaders Khadim Rizvi and Pir Afzal Qadri were arrested last year and accused of ‘terrorism and sedition’
Traders say Karachi plaza fire caused $54 million losses as death toll climbs to 71
- Rescuers work through unstable debris as identification continues, compensation announced
- Rising death toll underscores scale of the disaster and the challenges now facing forensic teams
ISLAMABAD: A deadly fire at a major shopping plaza in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi has killed at least 71 people and caused estimated losses of up to Rs15 billion ($53.6 million), traders and officials said on Friday, as recovery teams continue searching unstable debris and families await identification of victims.
The fire broke out on Jan. 17 at Gul Plaza, a densely packed commercial complex in the heart of Karachi that housed more than 1,200 shops. The blaze burned for over 24 hours before being brought under control, trapping workers and shoppers inside and leaving large sections of the building structurally unsafe.
Deadly fires are a recurring problem in Karachi, a city of more than 20 million people, where overcrowded markets, aging infrastructure, illegal construction and weak enforcement of safety regulations frequently contribute to disasters. Officials say a blaze of this scale is rare.
“We have processed 71 sets of remains, of which 20 have been identified,” chief police surgeon Dr. Summaiya Syed said on Friday, underscoring the scale of the disaster and the challenges facing forensic teams.
Identification has been significantly slowed by the condition of the remains recovered from the site, Syed said, noting that many bodies were found in fragments, complicating DNA analysis and prolonging the process for families waiting for confirmation.
Tanveer Pasta, president of the Gul Plaza Market Association, said all shops in the plaza were destroyed, estimating total losses at up to Rs15 billion ($53.6 million).
“There were big importers sitting here,” he told Arab News on Thursday. “Just three days before this fire, 31 [shipping] containers were unloaded.”
Relatives of dozens of missing persons have remained near the destroyed plaza and at hospitals even after submitting DNA samples, with some families expressing frustration over the pace of recovery and identification.
Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab said the city administration remained focused on rescue operations and on returning victims’ remains to their families as quickly as possible. His remarks came after he visited the homes of several victims, according to a statement from his office.
“Rescue personnel of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation are still engaged in the rescue operation, while the administration is making every effort to hand over [remains] of the victims, loved ones to their families at the earliest,” Wahab was quoted as saying.
Earlier this week, the Sindh provincial government announced compensation of Rs10 million ($35,720) for the family of each person killed in the blaze and said affected shopkeepers would also receive financial assistance.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the cause of the fire. Police have said preliminary indications point to a possible electrical short circuit, though officials stress conclusions will only be drawn after investigations are completed.
