Inquiry report still awaited


Abdul Manan June 13, 2010

LAHORE: The high-level committee tasked to prepare a report on last month’s Ahmadi community massacre and present it to the Punjab chief minister (CM) by June 3 is yet to submit its findings.

With the pivotal report already over a week late, the community, predictably, laments the poor performance of the Punjab government.

Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif on May 29 had constituted a three-member panel comprising secretary health Fawad Hassan Fawad, secretary home Nadeem Hassan Asif and deputy inspector-general of headquarters Khan Baig to probe how and why two places of worship of the Ahmadi community were attacked in Lahore.

The committee was also assigned to assess the government’s ongoing investigation into the carnage and suggest measures to avoid a repeat of such an incident in the future.

The panel was bound to furnish its report to the CM by June 3 but sources claimed that none of the committee members has started work on the assignment.

The sources asserted that the Punjab CM’s statement that the recommendations of the panel would be implemented to the letter was meant to placate the international community alone.

On May 28, four terrorists mounted an assault on Ahmadi congregations at two places of worship – Bait-ul-Noor at Model Town and Bait-ul-Ziker at Garhi Shaho in Lahore – leaving over 80 dead and more than 100 injured.

Fawad, the committee’s convener, told The Express Tribune that the panel has not yet submitted its report to the Punjab CM. However, he said, the committee has been studying the details of the grisly incident and would soon present its report to the CM.

DIG Headquarter Khan Baig also admitted that the panel has not completed its findings, but said that the work is ongoing and the report would soon be provided to the media.

The custodian of Baitul Noor at Model Town Col (retired) Munnawar told The Express Tribune that the committee constituted by CM Punjab Shahbaz Sharif has neither contacted the community nor visited the crime scenes. The formation of the panel was just a political stunt designed to satisfy the world community, he added.

He said that the community has itself probed the reasons for the massacre. He said that around 200 families of Ahmadi community lived in Model Town .

Munnawar added that they had informed the provincial administration about their apprehensions but no one paid attention. He said that more attacks on their places of worship were expected.

The community spokesperson Saleem-u-din told The Express Tribune that the young Ahmadis had captured the attackers and handed them over to the police but the police did not seem sincere or concerned.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 13th, 2010.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ