Salman Shahzad, the brother of alleged blasphemers from Sialkot, appeared before the district and city courts in Karachi on Wednesday to demand justice and protection, and plead against the police.
Salman Shahzad, the brother of Umer Shahzad and Shaban Shahzad, filed an application against the police, complaining that the law enforcers have been constantly harassing his family to hand over his brothers nominated in a blasphemy case registered in Sialkot.
In his application, the complainant informed the court that Inspector Rahim Ali Tunio and some policemen from Sialkot raided his house in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal area the previous night and harassed his family members to produce his brothers.
“The law enforcers also threatened my family and me of serious consequences if my brothers remained at large,” added the complainant.
He also said the policemen were informed that his brothers had already left the country, but they continued harassing them and told them that they would continue searching their house until the two brothers are arrested.
The complainant requested the court to provide justice and protection to him and his family, following which the court ordered Inspector Tunio and his police party to appear before the court on Monday, January 30.
The Sialkot police had registered a blasphemy case against the two brothers on the complaint of Qari Shafiqur Rehman, who claimed that the brothers had desecrated the holy Quran and other religious content.
However, the family denied the allegations during a press conference at the Karachi Press Club last week and told the media that the brothers had already left the country with their mother to protect themselves.
Interestingly, it has been learnt that one of the men accused for committing blasphemy, namely Umer Shahzad, is disabled.
It is pertinent to mention here that the federal government has started a crackdown against blasphemers; and several departments, especially the four provincial home departments, have been ordered to immediately arrest all the people nominated in blasphemy cases and inform the Centre of their progress.
