E-Paper
Pak bars Hafiz Saeed from leading Friday sermons, takes over JuD assets
The government of Pakistan’s Punjab province on Thursday barred Jama’at-ud-Da’wah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed from leading Friday prayers at Jamia Masjid Qadsia at Chowburji Chowk in Lahore.
The government of Pakistan’s Punjab province on Thursday barred Jama’at-ud-Da’wah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed from leading Friday prayers at Jamia Masjid Qadsia at Chowburji Chowk in Lahore and appointed an official administrator to take charge of the facility as part of its ongoing crackdown against terror groups and organisations affiliated to them.
A number of JuD properties all over the country, including its HQ, adjoining Jamia Masjid Qadsia, have been taken over by local administrations.
Local media reported that police teams were dispatched to Jamia Masjid Qadsia to help the administration take charge of the facility . Police locked the adjoining head office of the JuD late in the night, an official told Daily Dawn newspaper.
The official said the JuD leaders and other activists present there offered no resistance and cooperated with the law enforcement agencies. He said the JuD leadership in Lahore also handed over 75 ambulances to the police. The ambulances were given to Rescue 1122, an emergency service that serves Punjab, to redesign and make them a permanent part of its fleet. Security has been tightened at the Muridke Markaz of the JuD where the government has appointed six administrators, including two female officers.
The official said a woman government schoolteacher has been appointed administrator at a girls’ school at the Muridke Markaz while a doctor has been posted at the hospital. A tehsildar had been appointed as administrator to run the affairs of the entire premises of the JuD Markaz, which houses more than 300 families, he added.
The senior official said Lahore has hundreds of mosques under the administration of JuD which would be taken into official control in coming days in phases. The authorities have seized a JuD seminary in Bajaur district.
The senior official said Lahore has hundreds of mosques under the administration of JuD which would be taken into official control in coming days in phases. The authorities have seized a JuD seminary in Bajaur tribal district. According to a statement issued by Deputy Commissioner Usman Mehsood’s office, the action was taken following directives by the federal government to take over assets of proscribed organisations.
