FAISALABAD: A court has released the police officer who was arrested for negligence of duties that led to the killing of two Christian brothers in Faisalabad.

DSP Civil Lines Ashiq Jatt was arrested on the orders of Punjab Inspector General Tariq Saleem Dogar and was sent to jail on a judicial remand on Friday. On Saturday, magistrate Shafqat accepted his bail application at a surety bond of Rs50,000.

Meanwhile, police sources have said that a suspect had been arrested in Madina Town for his alleged involvement in the murder. The suspect, identified as Rana Maqsood, is said to have confessed to the crime.

Sources said that Maqsood was being interrogated by a team of police and agencies in Faisalabad but did not disclose the exact location.

The two Christian brothers, Sajid and Rashid Emmanuel, were shot on July 19 by unidentified persons when the police was on its way to present them before the court. They had been accused of writing a blasphemous pamphlet, which was critical of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Earlier this month, about 400 demonstrators burned tyres and held protests in the low-income Waris Pura neighbourhood of Faisalabad, a slum inhabited by nearly 100,000 Christians, demanding the death penalty for the accused.

Pakistan’s blasphemy law carries the death penalty although no one has ever been sent to the gallows for the crime. Human rights activists want the legislation repealed, saying it is exploited for personal enmity. (Additional input from AFP)

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2010.

At least 17 people were injured as day-long clashes erupted Tuesday between the police, power loom workers and factory owners over “unsatisfactory wages”. Several factories were damaged and one unit set ablaze when protesting workers went on the rampage. A police motorcycle was also burnt during Tuesday’s clashes.

The violent protest started when the power loom workers forced their colleagues to observe a strike against low wages. Labour Qaumi Movement Faisalabad (LQM) had called a strike on July 20, to protest against the failure of factory owners and the administration in increasing the power loom workers’ wages.

Earlier, the district administration imposed Section 144 – a ban on staging any type of rallies.  However, the ban proved to be futile as the industrial workers broke out in protests from 30 different locations.

The protest turned violent when the workers set on fire a power loom factory in industrial area Sadhar on Jhang Road. Factory workers claimed that they were on their way to stage a demonstration when armed security guards opened fire on them causing four workers to sustain bullet wounds. Infuriated, the mob set fire to the Fazal Weaving factory.

In another move, scores of power loom workers forced entry into different factories and made its workers close their businesses. According to reports, protestors ransacked six factories in Ghulam Muhammadabad and two in Faizabad area. Thirteen persons including six factory owners also sustained injuries in clashes between the police and protestors in Faizabad and Ghulam Muhammabad.

Rana Tahir, secretary of LQM was also among the injured persons. Faisalabad police used hundreds of tear gas shells and resorted to aerial firing to disperse the protesters.

The clashes continued throughout the day, and police contingents from Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan, Toba Tek Singh, Jhang and Sheikhpura were required to assist the Faisalabad police.

Hours into the ongoing protest, Commissioner Faisalabad Tahir Hussain along with Regional Police Officer Aftab Ahmed Cheema and District Coordination Officer Naseem Sadiq held a detailed meeting with the labour leaders – Mian Abdul Qayyum, Chairman of the LQM.

After thorough discussion, the labour leaders announced an end to their protest on the assurance that the demand to increase their wages will be accepted after formal issuance of the notification from the Punjab government. In the latest development, DCO Faisalabad Naseem Sadiq called a joint meeting of labour leaders and factory owners today to reach a final consensus on the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 21^st, 2010.

FAISALABAD: Muslims and Christians clashed for hours in Warispura and Dawoodnagar neighbourhoods of Faisalabad following the killing of two Christian brothers accused of blasphemy outside the district courts on Monday.

Pastor Rashid Emmanuel and his brother Sajid Emmanuel were shot dead by an unidentified person on Monday as they left the court of Magistrate Tariq Habib accompanied by inspector Muhammad Hussain who was critically injured.

“Both brothers were rushed to hospital where they were pronounced dead,” said police official Amanullah Khan.

Doctor Rana Bashir of the Allied Hospital confirmed the deaths and said the wounded police officer was undergoing a surgery.

On July 2, people accusing the two brothers of distributing pamphlets containing blasphemous material at the general bus stand and took them to the Civil Lines police station, where an FIR was filed against them. They were taken into custody.

The brothers’ supporters, however, claim that the charges were fabricated. James Aftab, a senior church official in Faisalabad, said the men had been “implicated in a fake case” while Atif Jamil Pagaan, a spokesperson for the Pakistan Minorities Democratic Foundation, also said the men had been set up.

“The charges levelled against them were false as no evidence has been brought and no witness presented,” he said, adding that the pamphlets were handwritten and photocopied, and anonymously distributed with the brothers’ contact details.

Following the killings, rumours spread that angry Christians have set two houses belonging to Muslims on fire. This was also announced from mosques and as a result at around 6:30 pm groups of men from around Faisalabad started gathering in Warispura and Dawoodnagar, predominantly Christian neighbourhoods, and the latter the home of the slain brothers. Warispura also has a big church, called the Main Church of Warispura. However, the police, anticipating rioting, had already surrounded the neighbourhoods and tried to disperse the crowd by baton charging and teargas shelling. Around seven to eight groups of 100 to 150 people had gathered in the area.

Meanwhile, Christians and Muslims attacked each other with stones and five people, including two policemen, were injured.

In a bid to bring the situation under control, Commissioner Faisalabad Tahir Hussain, and RPO Faisalabad Aftab Cheema, held a meeting with members of Christian and Muslim organisations. The meeting, initially held indoors, was later carried out on the road in full view of the demonstrators, following which the delegations tried to dispel rumours that houses had been burnt and urged people to leave the area.

Former MNA from the area, Mian Abdul Manan, also tried to calm the rioters. Around 11:30 pm, rioters started leaving though police and city officials remained in the area.

To ensure peace over the next few days, Section 144 has been imposed in the district by the DCO which makes gatherings of more than four persons illegal. Religious leaders from both sides have also agreed not to indulge in hate speeches or taking the law into their hands.

Meanwhile, SSP Investigations Faisalabad Rana Ahsan and DSP Civil Lines Ashiq Hussain have been suspended for negligence by IG Punjab.

Till the filing of the report, FIR against the killer had not been filed. According to sources, the police deliberately delayed filing the report so that the post mortem would be deferred till morning by which time the situation might be calmer. (With additional input from wires)

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20th, 2010.

FAISALABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has finally supported the move to establish a bench of Lahore High Court (LHC) in Faisalabad and declared it a legal right of the lawyers and 15 million people of the region.

This is the first time that a head of the country’s judiciary has announced acceptance for a longstanding demand of the people of Faisalabad, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Chiniot and their adjoining districts. The CJP backed the demand of the citizens of Faisalabad and gave his assurances for the setting up an LHC bench in the district directly, when a 45-member delegation of the Faisalabad District Bar Association (DBA) held a meeting with the CJP in Islamabad on Thursday.

Delegation members in their written statement mentioned that CJP had also assured them that he would personally consult the LHC Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif and announce the news to the public and lawyers of the Faisalabad region by the next day.

Faisalabad Bar members said that justice needed to be accessible for people. “We need to bring the courts near to people and setting up a bench of the High Court in Faisalabad is a legal duty of the government,” a Faisalabad DBA member said.

Two weeks ago, the Punjab government sent a summery to the LHC Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif under Article 198(4) after fulfilling the legal requirements and recommended that a new bench of the court be established in Faisalabad. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif approved the motion and signed the summery on July 5, 2010 and the draft was then sent to the LHC chief justice through the Punjab Law Ministry secretary. The summary mentioned that at present the LHC benches were working in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan and Bahawalpur and that the next LHC bench ought to be established in Faisalabad.

People and lawyers in Faisalabad have launched a vigorous campaign for the past 25 years for the establishment of an LHC bench in the district and previous governments offered several assurances in this regard but this is the first time that practical steps are being taken by the present regime to grant this long standing demand.

During the lawyers movement for the restoration of the judiciary, former President Pervez Musharraf through then LHC Chief Justice Iftikhar Hussain assured that a high court bench would be established in Faisalabad with a condition to cancel the address of the then suspended Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in Faisalabad but local lawyers refused to accept this proposal.

General Pervez Musharraf during a referendum campaign also used this demand as a tactical tool and asked Faisalabad’s lawyers to support his referendum but the proposal was rejected by the lawyers. All trade bodies, city district government, town councils, industrialists and labour organisations and many people belonging to cross sections of the society of Faisalabad support the new move.

The Faisalabad District Bar Association, with the support of a number of civil society bodies, had sent a letter to the Punjab government in March this year threatening the launch of a civil disobedience campaign if the government failed to establish an LHC bench in the district. A study report in this regard notes that 43 per cent cases in the LHC pertain to the Faisalabad region and the distance of Faisalabad from Lahore is over 150 kilometers, which legally merits the establishment of a separate bench.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2010.

FAISALABAD: The federal government has decided to set up gas utility courts throughout the country to check cases of gas theft and recover dues from chronic defaulters.

The ministry of petroleum and natural resources has finalised its 28-page draft to give a legal cover to new amendments. The draft of the Gas Utility Companies Act of 2010 has been sent to major industrial groups to seek their feedback within 30 days.

Under the amendments, gas courts will be set up at district level. Section 24 of the draft says, “The government shall by a notification in the official gazette establish as many gas utility courts in a district as it considers necessary to exercise jurisdiction under this Act and appoint a judge for each of such courts from amongst the district and sessions judges and the additional district and sessions judges in that district after consultation with the chief justice of the high court of that province.” Officials confirmed that for the first time, legal framework is being prepared for the smooth functioning of gas supply, recovery and development matters.

Under the new law, gas thieves will have to undergo three years’ imprisonment or pay Rs5 million fine, or both if found guilty.  Gas companies will be empowered to suspend gas to any consumer or sector at any time for any period in the name of operational reasons. Section 20 has been introduced in the draft with name and style of ‘Power to Reduce Supply’ pressure which says “a gas utility company may, for operational reasons without incurring any liability for doing so, reduce supply if it thinks fit.

After the approval of this act from the assembly, gas companies will be exempted from audit by the Auditor-General of Pakistan and they will proceed through Companies Ordinance 1984.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2010.

FAISALABAD: Punjab Home Department sources say the provincial government has approved a limited operation in southern Punjab against banned militant groups. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Muhammad and Sipah-e-Sahaba are in the crosshairs and a 1,785-strong list of targets has been handed over to the police and law enforcement agencies, say sources.

The orders, say the sources, come directly from Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. Significantly, the list developed includes not just militants but also the handlers in charge of recruitments and financing. Home Department sources say the crackdown will target those LeJ, JM and SSP members who tried to go underground by changing the names of their organisations.

The list features 655 wanted persons belonging to the banned outfits and who have been active in the Multan region.  Of these, 380 are said to be ‘Afghan-trained boys’ while the remaining 275 are cited as dangerous activists of the proscribed groups. Also included on the list are 127 from Jhang, 60 from Faisalabad, 19 from Toba Tek Singh and another 13 from Chiniot.

Top of the list are four commanders of the banned outfits: Matiur Rehman of Bahawalpur, who carries head money of Rs 10 million; Ehsanul Haq of Bahawalpur, with Rs 5 million; Omar Aqdas of Sheikhupura  with Rs 5 million and Zakiullah of Sheikhupura, who carries a reward of Rs 2 million.

Meanwhile, all the districts of Punjab including Bhakkar, Sargodha, Khushab, Rawalpindi and Jhelum have swapped wanted persons lists. A summary to ban the movement of the top leadership of the banned outfits has also been finalised, say sources. And SSP chief Ahmed Ludhianvi has now been debarred from entry into Bhakkar, Toba Tek Singh and Jhang. Interestingly, the DCO has also been authorised to impose an immediate ban on Ludhianvi’s movement, if he so deems fit.

However, the chief minister is said to have entrusted the timing of the operation to the LEAs. And in the last 48 hours, Punjab chief secretary Nasir Mehmood Khosa and IG Punjab Tariq Saleem Dogar are said to have made clandestine visits to significant cities in the Punjab to finalise operational details. Meanwhile, say sources, the security agencies have also been apprised of the contours of the planned operation.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2010.