A few hundred activists staged a protest demonstration in front of Lal Masjid and Aabpara Police Station on Friday and demanded registration of an FIR against chief cleric of Lal Masjid Maulana Abdul Aziz. It was the second consecutive protest in two days, wherein politicians and members from the civil society also took part. Senator Nasreen Jalil, Hasil Bazenjo, Nafeesa Shah, Farzana Bari, Rubina Khalid, Bushra Gohar and others joined the protest.
Participants of the demonstration demand that a case be registered against Maulana Abdul Aziz for his refusal to condemn the killers of schoolchildren in Peshawar on Tuesday. They also demanded a crackdown on supporters and abettors of Taliban in the country. The charged crowd gathered outside the Aabpara police station in the evening and chanted slogans against Maulana Aziz. They also demanded the police to register an FIR against Aziz.
Earlier in the day, Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Asmatullah Junejo called in the entire district police in response to an announcement by civil society activists that protests would be held outside the mosque after Friday prayer. The police beefed up security outside Lal Masjid and set up barricades on both sides of the roads leading to the seminary. As many as seven protestors including a woman were also arrested by Islamabad police on a complaint filed by Red Mosque administration. They were released hours later on the order of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar.