'Try And Demolish Mosques If You Can': JUI-F Leader Challenges Chief Justice Over SC Order

'Try And Demolish Mosques If You Can': JUI-F Leader Challenges Chief Justice Over SC Order
Warning Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmad and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah of dire consequences, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Sindh Secretary General Rashid Mahmood Soomro has said that the party won't allow implementation of the court’s order to demolish an illegally constructed mosque in Karachi.

The Supreme Court had ruled that a mosque, shrine and cemetery built near Tariq Road in Karachi were encroaching on public park land, and ordered Tuesday that the constructions be torn down.

Soomro posted a video on Twitter, which went viral by late Wednesday, daring authorities to raze the mosque.

"Mr. Chief Justice the mosques are not orphans... Mr. Chief Minister the mosques are not orphans... if you have the courage then show it and try bulldozing the mosque," Soomro goaded.

He warned, "We will stop you on the way [to the mosque]... if the mosques are demolished, your offices will also be demolished."

https://twitter.com/Xadeejournalist/status/1476203517664796676

Khawaja Shams, the counsel for the mosque’s administration, argued that the land was obtained legally through auction from the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC).

District Municipal Corporation (DMC) Administrator East maintained that the land was still zoned for public amenities.  CJP Gulzar chastised the district administer for the unfettered development across the city.

“What have you done with this city?” CJP Gulzar questioned. “The city has been built in a way that it now needs to be rebuilt from scratch, like Poland, Germany and France were.”

In November 2019, the JUI-F staged a 13-day sit in, the Azadi March, in Islamabad, costing the government Rs. 240 million.