Blasphemy Law & Violence - 1 (Reporter - Dawn News Jan 2011)
Imam lynched by mob for ‘blasphemy’ By Majeed Gill June 16, 2006 Friday
Jumadi-ul-Awwal 19, 1427 BAHAWALPUR, June 15: A mosque Imam was killed while a
religious leader sustained critical injuries in violence caused reportedly by
sectarian tension between two Sunni sects in Choonawala Mandi near Hasilpur,
about 90km from here, on Thursday. According to reports reaching here, the trouble
started when Hafiz Qamar Javed, prayer leader at local Masjid Ahl-e-Hadith,
burnt some trash near his mosque. The fire attracted neighbours, including
people from the rival sect, who propagated that Javed was burning pages from
Quran.
Within no time a huge mob turned up at the scene and attacked Javed. When
Ahl-e-Hadith’s local leader Master Muhammad Sadiq came to his rescue, he was
also beaten up severely. The assailants left the scene when the two fell
unconscious. Police rushed to the scene after getting information. In a hurry,
a police vehicle hit and injured Muhammad Nadeem (13). The mob then damaged the
van and thrashed ASI Muhammad Nawaz, who also sustained injuries.
Later, the Hasilpur DSP and tehsil nazim reached Choonawala and managed
to disperse the mob. The injured were rushed to the Bahawal Victoria Hospital,
Bahawalpur, where Hafiz Qamar Javed succumbed to injuries while Master Muhammad
Sadiq was in precarious condition.
Following an appeal, Choonawala traders’ president, shopkeepers pulled
down their shutters to protest the ‘blasphemous act’.
Meanwhile, it was learnt that a case under the Blasphemy Act had been
registered against deceased Hafiz Qamar Javed and injured Muhammad Sadiq while
no case was registered against the assailants.
DPO Arif Nawaz was not available for comments. STRIKE: Shopkeepers of
Dubai and Al-Karim plazas pulled down their shutters to protest the
registration of cases against some traders by Kotwali police. The police had
registered the cases on the report of Wasim Azam who had accused the traders of
assaulting them. REFERENCE: Imam lynched by mob for ‘blasphemy’ By Majeed Gill
June 16, 2006 Friday Jumadi-ul-Awwal 19, 1427 http://archives.dawn.com/2006/06/16/nat10.htm
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