The incident of setting fire to 150 houses belonging to Christians in Badami Bagh could have been averted if the police, who was present on the occasion, had stopped the 3,000 strong mob. PHOTO: INP
ISLAMABAD:
Punjab government’s linkages with ‘extremist elements’ abetted periodic attacks on minorities, said rights activists in Parliament.
In this connection, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights summoned Inspector General Punjab on March 14 for accountability over the Badami Bagh incident.
The incident of setting fire to 150 houses belonging to Christians in Badami Bagh could have been averted if the police, who was present on the occasion, had stopped the 3,000 strong mob of extremist rioters from wreaking havoc, said human rights groups. Furthermore, not punishing culprits of the anti-Christian Gojra riots of 2009 was understood as another catalyst for the March 9 incident.
“This is a continuation of the Gojra incident,” said committee chairperson and human rights activist Riaz Fatayana, while talking to The Express Tribune. “This would not have happened if responsible elements and police officers, who were behind the Gojra tragedy, had been convicted.” Furthermore, Fatayana alleged that the Punjab government had a “soft corner for the extremist elements” and gives “patronage” to them, which is why such incidents were occurring in the province repeatedly.
However, Punjab government spokesman Senator Pervez Rashid flatly rejected the allegation of nursing such soft corners. “No, we are not supporting extremists. Unlike what happens in other provinces, the Punjab government has not issued a single weapons license to anyone.”
Defending the provincial government’s role in the Gojra incident, Rashid said that the Punjab government’s prosecutor had strictly pursued the case in the ATC and opposed the settlement between the accused and the Christian victims’ families after paying blood money. About the Badamy Bagh incident, he said, the police focused on saving lives instead of properties – a move which was construed as inaction on its part.
But Chairperson Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Zohra Yusuf holds that it was indeed the Punjab government’s sympathies with extremist elements in the province which led to re-occurrence of atrocities against minorities. “The police’s inaction in Badami Bagh on March 10 is evidence of Punjab government’s link with extremists,” she maintained.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2013.
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Dear CM, how many miscreants, as you like to call them, were charged and put behind bars for looting and murdering Christians in Gojra? Where was the CM when another mob of fanatics, in November last year, attacked and burned down a girls’ school in Lahore? The school’s 77-year-old principal was booked in a blasphemy row over a piece of homework issued by a teacher. Has the CM taken any action against the mob who lynched and burnt alive a deranged person for alleged blasphemy? What about action against the killers of 80-year-old Iqbal Butt who was acquitted by the courts after being proved innocent in a blasphemy case? The killers of Shahbaz Bhatti vanished without a trace. The convicted murderer of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer could not be punished, thanks to the superior courts while Aasia Bibi’s appeal against her conviction has been pending for the last two years. Who will trust CM Sharif while his people are working overtime to purify the country — to make it literally a land of the pure? How come we Pakistanis criticise Narinder Modi of Gujrat?
The SC has been critical of the Punjab government for not publicizing the Gojra incident report. It is widely believed that had the culprits of the Gojra incident been caught and punished, the Badami Bagh episode could have been avoided. Our tilt towards pseudo-religious sentiments has taken away the power of rational thinking from us. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has condemned the attack as another shameful act against a vulnerable community. The incident is being viewed, one, as a sign of religious extremism, two, as a reminder that the Punjab police in Pakistan has lost whatever remaining credibility it may have had on upholding the law and protecting human rights.
So the only way to support extremists is by issuing a gun license in a country where there are more fake gun licenses than real ones... wow good thinking guys, if this continues I think there will only be extremists left in this country. The only way to get rid of these animals is by putting them down
Pre-election propaganda.
pre-election propaganda. please for God sake spare the nation and concentrate on positive things to ensure election on time.
From Asghar khan to Quetta blasts, from Badami bagh to Abbas Town, They do not leave any opportunity to bash PML-N, Yet it emerges as most popular party in polls, either the allegations are hollow and politically biased, or probably the majority has become extremists.
pre-election propaganda. please spare the nation and concentrate on positive things to ensure timely election.
I wonder what Raza Rumi has to say about this?
Lahore city is now the bedrock of extremism. The extremists have found a catalyst in the PMLN that facilitates and multiplies terrorism in its grotesque form. Why is there no trouble in Jhang, Rahim Yar Khan, and other South Punjab areas where these parties germinate? With an obliging government that formulates its actions on biradari and expediency, how can you have convictions and punishments? Salams