Riots gripped the eastern side of the city on Saturday after a blasphemy attempt in the thickly Christian populated locality and angry protestors attacked a church. The protestors burnt tires at the Sialkot Road, Commissioner Office Road and its adjacent roads to block the whole area and continued stoning at the government offices and the Christian premises. Reportedly, a blasphemous literature was distributed in Khokharki area and Jinnah Road police lodged a first information report (FIR) under section 295-B and 295-C against unknown blasphemers. The police took some 22 suspects into custody including a pastor and State Life Insurance Corporation area manage and his son.
An anti blasphemy rally was also brought out last week and the police were handling the case without any progress shown to the masses. Yesterday, another leaflet was distributed in Khokharki locality threatening bomb explosions in mosques if pastor and other Christian suspects were not released immediately. Fuel was added to the row at the same time when some torched pages of Holy Quran were found near the graveyard. A large number of religious parties’ members gathered in the locality and turned into an out of control mob which stoned the house of Javed Masih, tried to enter a church and threw stones on it and its adjacent school.
The police reached the spot and fired teargas shells after failing to disperse the agitators by baton charge. The mob then moved towards the regional police office and tried to enter it but the police stopped them. During baton charge and stoning, three constables Usman, Javed and Aftab sustained injuries and were hospitalised while fifteen others also sent hospital for medical aid. City Police Officer (CPO) Ghulam Mahmood Dogar said the security of churches had been tightened and a large number of personnel have been deployed in all churches of the district.
It is ironic that these riots have happened in Gujranwala where people have a higher education level then some other parts of the country which continue to suffer ignorance and lack of education at an alarming rate. Many of us are taught by the many Christian schools there. The gentle Christian community has lived in their homeland from times past with Muslims peacefully. Many masjids in Gujranwala and other parts of the country continue to host foreign terrorist and the maulvies of those mosques have started to play the agents of the devil. This is has to change immediately if peace and harmony are to exist in Pakistan. The education of Pakistan's maulvies is the paramount call of the hours. These riots originate in their bigoted minds. For now to show a concrete response, the mosque that issued the call needs to be shut down for a lesson for the masses and maulvies who incited these riots need to be brought to a proper punishment.
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