Hundreds of Pakistani Christians took to the streets across the country, demanding better protection. Police fired into the air in Lahore and Karachi to try to disperse protesters.
Source/Credit: The Gulf Today
By Tariq Butt | March 13, 2013
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a report of the Punjab government on the burning of Joseph Colony of Christians in Badami Bagh, Lahore, by a mob after the arrest of a Christian blasphemer.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard the suo moto case and said the Punjab government’s report did not mention the reasons behind the incident and what action has been taken against the perpetrators.
Chaudhry said that whenever there is an attack on minorities, the Punjab government does not budge.
He asked the Punjab advocate general as to why residents of the area were forced to vacate their homes.
Justice Azmat Saeed on the bench remarked that residents were being forced to vacate their homes, located just three miles from the office of the Inspector General Police (IGP) Punjab.
He asked whether or not the IGP had received information about the incident.
Justice Gulzar Ahmad said that the police were a silent spectator during the mob attack.
The advocate general told the court that according to the initial report this was not a land grabbing case and that the mob attack took place in response to blasphemy.
The chief justice observed that the sanctity of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was supreme and action should be taken according to the existing blasphemy law.
Over 100 homes in the Christian neighbourhood were ransacked and set ablaze by an angry mob on March 9 after an individual from the area was accused of blasphemy.
The bench asked the IGP as to who was responsible for the burning down of more than 150 houses.
It also asked what benefits were achieved by targeting the minorities.
Meanwhile, on the directives of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif Rs500,000 compensation cheques were provided to 60 affected of Joseph Colony each while reconstruction of destroyed houses of Christian community started on Sunday night.
Hundreds of Pakistani Christians took to the streets across the country, demanding better protection. Police fired into the air in Lahore and Karachi to try to disperse protesters.
Protesters smashed the windows of buses and clashed with baton-wielding police in Lahore, near the Saint Joseph Colony neighbourhood that was set on fire.
Read original post here: SC rejects Punjab report on Joseph Colony attack
This content-post is archived for backup and to keep archived records of any news Islam Ahmadiyya. The views expressed by the author and source of this news archive do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Ahmadiyya Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.