Hard-liners demand missing Pakistani activists face blasphemy charge

Record ID: 164884

  • Title: Hard-liners demand missing Pakistani activists face blasphemy charge
  • Date: 19th January 2017
  • Summary: KARACHI, PAKISTAN (JANUARY 19, 2017) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** PROTESTERS FROM RELIGIOUS GROUP, TEHREEK LABAIK YA RASOOL ALLAH, STANDING BEHIND BANNER CHANTING "LABAIK YA RASOOL ALLAH!" (NAME OF RELIGIOUS GROUP) PROTESTERS IN STREET CHANTING "LABAIK YA RASOOL ALLAH!" GROUP LEADER CHANTING SENIOR POLICE OFFICIALS WATCHING KARACHI, PAKISTAN (JANUARY 19, 2017) (REUTERS) POLICE TRYING TO STOP PROTESTERS FROM MARCHING TOWARDS NEARBY ARTS COUNCIL WHERE ACTIVISTS' SUPPORTERS HAVE TAKEN SHELTER VARIOUS OF POLICE HOLDING PROTESTERS BACK PROTESTERS BREAKING POLICE BARRIER VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS PUSHING POLICE, THROWING STONES AT WALL OF ARTS COUNCIL SUPPORTERS OF ACTIVISTS STANDING INSIDE COMPOUND OF ARTS COUNCIL POLICE ARGUING WITH PROTESTERS AT GATE OF ARTS COUNCIL POLICEMEN MOVING A LEADER OF TEHREEK LABAIK YA RASOOL ALLAH, MOHAMMAD BILAL QADRI RIZVI, AWAY FROM THE GATE PLACARD LEFT BEHIND BY FLEEING SUPPORTERS OF ACTIVISTS READING (English): "END ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES" ON FLOOR (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) A LEADER OF TEHREEK LABAIK YA RASOOL ALLAH, MOHAMMAD BILAL QADRI RIZVI, SAYING: "Now that we have come out onto the streets, our demand is that we will not stop our protest under any circumstance, until and unless the blasphemers and their supporters are given the death sentence." PROTEST LEADERS ADDRESSING PROTESTERS VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING AND CHEERING SUPPORT (AUDIO OF PROTEST LEADERS SPEAKING) ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (JANUARY 18, 2017) (REUTERS) FAMILY MEMBERS AND CIVIL LIBERTY ACTIVISTS SEATED FOR NEWS CONFERENCE CIVIL LIBERTY ACTIVIST JIBRAN NASIR ADDRESSING MEDIA/ FAMILY MEMBERS OF MISSING ACTIVISTS SEATED WITH HIM REPORTERS WIFE OF MISSING ACTIVIST WAQAS AHMED GORAYA, MESHA SAEED, WALKING TO SIT IN FRONT OF MICROPHONES (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) WIFE OF MISSING ACTIVIST WAQAS AHMED GORAYA, MESHA SAEED, SAYING: "Thank Allah, I and Ahmed Waqas Goraya are both Muslims. We have faith in Allah, and we firmly believe that Mohammad is Allah's last Prophet." REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) WIFE OF MISSING ACTIVIST WAQAS AHMED GORAYA, MESHA SAEED, SAYING: "After spending so much of my life with him, I know him very well. There is absolutely no question of Waqas being involved in any such (blasphemous) act, action or activity." SAEED LISTENING BROTHER OF MISSING ACTIVIST SALMAN HAIDER, FARAZ HAIDER ADDRESSING REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) BROTHER OF MISSING ACTIVIST SALMAN HAIDER, FARAZ HAIDER, SAYING: "The propaganda that is being done in this regard is not only dangerous for the missing people, but also for their family members and all of us. There are a lot of serious concerns and fears that the atmosphere that is building up in Pakistan can prove very perilous for all of us in the future." REPORTER ASKING QUESTION
  • Embargoed: 2nd February 2017 17:11
  • Keywords: Karachi Islamabad hard-line religious group Pakistan protest activists
  • Location: KARACHI AND ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
  • City: KARACHI AND ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015ZR0K05
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL
    Hardline religious protesters threw stones at supporters of five missing Pakistani activists on Thursday (January 19) and demanded that police charge the missing men under a blasphemy law that carries a mandatory death sentence.
    The liberal activists, who have posted blogs criticizing the political influence of the military and speaking up for the rights of religious minorities, have all gone missing separately since January 4, and it is unclear what happened to them.
    Shortly after their disappearances, blasphemy allegations against them appeared on social media and in a complaint to police.
    About 100 members of a little-known religious group, Tehreek Labaik Ya Rasool Allah, arrived at the local press club in the port city of Karachi and started hurling stones at people gathered there to support the missing activists.
    They chanted slogans asking police to file blasphemy cases against the missing activists and carried banners that read: "Beheading is the punishment of blasphemers."
    The activists' supporters were forced to withdraw into a nearby building.
    "Now that we have come out onto the streets, our demand is that we will not stop our protest under any circumstance, until and unless the blasphemers and their supporters are given the death sentence," said Mohammad Bilal Qadri Rizvi, a leader of Tehreek Labaik Ya Rasool Allah.
    Families of four missing Pakistani bloggers on Wednesday (January 18) categorically condemned a campaign to accuse the men of blasphemy.
    Mesha Saeed, the wife of missing activist Waqas Ahmed Goraya, told a news conference in Islamabad that both she and her husband were Muslims.
    "After spending so much of my life with him, I know him very well. There is absolutely no question of Waqas being involved in any such (blasphemous) act, action or activity," she said.
    Faraz Haider, the brother of another missing activist, Salman Haider, said that the allegations of blasphemy were dangerous for the missing people and their family members.
    The interior ministry said on Thursday that police had not registered a blasphemy case, although police in Islamabad confirmed on Wednesday that a formal complaint had been made by a lawyer.
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