The story according to most residents is that on Wednesday evening a quarrel broke out between Shahid Imran, a local barber and Sawan Masih alias Bodhi, while they were drinking together.
Source/Credit: The News | Pakistan
By The News | March 14, 2013
IN its preliminary report after a fact-finding mission to Joseph Colony, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has held police and the provincial administration squarely responsible for the horrible affair.
The commission in its report said that the purpose of this preliminary report is to present facts as ascertained regarding the incident of violence on March, 9, 2013, in Joseph Colony, Badami Bagh, Lahore, and the events that led to the incident.
The report will also look at the response of the administration before and during the incident and identify those responsible for the lapse.
According to the HRCP, on March 9, more than 200 houses in Joseph Colony were attacked, looted and burnt by a mob.
The event which sparked the chain of events that led to the assault is said to have occurred on Wednesday, March 6. The story according to most residents is that on Wednesday evening a quarrel broke out between Shahid Imran, a local barber and Sawan Masih alias Bodhi, while they were drinking together.
At the end of the fight, Imran alleged that Sawan had made blasphemous remarks. At a subsequent stage, a resident of a neighbouring locality, Shaikhabad, Shafiq alias Cheeko, came to know about it through Imran.
The HRCP report further said, later, Shafiq with the apparent intention of attacking Sawan went to Joseph Colony, burnt down the billiard table of Sawan and proceeded to curse and threaten Sawan and the Christian community generally. Sawan was subsequently arrested on Friday after an FIR under Section 295-C, PPC, registered against him at the Badami Bagh police station.
Zahida Parveen, a relative of accused Sawan, said while talking to the HRCP team that on Friday evening the local police told the Christian community to vacate their houses as there was a possibility of violence erupting on Saturday. Police also assured them of the safety of their houses and their belongings. Following the warning by police, almost the entire community evacuated the colony on Friday.
Some of the residents expressed the fear that the local trader community might have played a role in escalating the tensions and consequently in the carnage. A local candidate for the upcoming election of a trader association was alleged to have played a subversive role in the entire episode and in particular the incitement.
According to the report, on Saturday, a mob reportedly of around 3,000 people ransacked and looted the colony with complete impunity, setting fire to majority of houses, burning them down completely. There is enough evidence to suggest that there was considerable presence of the police force on the scene of the occurrence.
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