In a statement given to a TV channel, Maulana Abdul Aziz refused to condemn the attack on APS Peshawar. He said, “its incongruous to condemn one incident and keep silent on other ”. The people from different fields of life including civil society condemned his this statement and huge mass arrived to protest out side the Lal Masjid, who chanted slogans against chief cleric.
The vigil started from two minutes silence, for the martyrs in Thursday, after the evening prayer. Soon it converted into a protest with more than 300 people. The protesters were demanding police to arrest Maulana Abdul Aziz and reopen terrorist cases against him.The protesters continued to raise slogans, and closed the road in front of the mosque.
The mosque management called police to handle the unexpected situation and to stop the sloganeering crowd. They also warned protesters that the further chanting would not be endured. Police not only stopped the vigil organizer from using loudspeaker but also registered an FIR against the organizer on the application by the general secretary of Islamabad chapter of Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ) Abdur Rehman Mauvia.
A civil activist criticized Maulana Abdul Aziz’s statement, in which he said he would never call martyrs to those 148 students, who were killed by TTP in Peshawar. Instead of lecturing us, arrest the terrorists who are sitting inside the mosque said the crowd when police tried to prevent protestors and told them they are violating section 144.