Rally to mark Qadri’s death anniversary banned

ISLAMABAD: The authorities said on Tuesday religious organisations would be barred from staging rallies commemorating Mumtaz Qadri, the killer of Punjab governor Salman Taseer.

Qadri was executed on Feb 29 last year for killing Salman Taseer in Islamabad in 2011. He was a bodyguard of the deceased. Members of Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah, a coalition of religious groups, had planned to stage a rally on Wednesday to remember Qadri.

The government Tuesday placed under house arrest two leaders of the group ahead of the first anniversary of Qadri’s death. "All types of protests or rallies are strictly prohibited right now, especially in this kind of security environment," said the Punjab government spokesman Malik Ahmad Khan, referring to a spate of terrorist attacks in the country this month.

"The government has put our leaders under house arrest but we are not scared," said Ali Raza, a member of Tehreek-i-Labaik, who works in China. He said he had travelled to Pakistan for the anniversary.