9 killed in communal violence in Pakistan's Punjab province
LAHORE: At least nine persons died on Saturday in police firing and violent clashes between Muslims and the minority Christian community in Pakistan's Punjab province following the alleged desecration of the holy Quran.
Hundreds of Muslims gathered this morning and marched towards Christian homes at Azafi Abadi village, 160 km from Lahore. Witnesses said at least three persons were killed and some others injured when police fired at a mob that was trying to forcibly enter the homes of Christians. The bodies of six Christians - three women, two children and a man - were pulled out of houses that were set alight by the mob. Officials said they feared the toll could rise as the rubble of some 70 burnt houses is yet to be cleared.
A mob had on Friday burnt over 70 houses of Christians at Azafi Abadi over an alleged incident of desecration of the Quran. Muslims set on fire another 15 houses of Christians on Saturday. Violence erupted in the area when a group of Muslims alleged that three Christians had burnt pages of the Quran at a wedding ceremony. [link]
The Dawn reports:
ISLAMABAD: Days of rioting between Christians and Muslims in eastern Pakistan following allegations that a Quran was defiled escalated Saturday, leaving six Christians dead, including a child, authorities said. Members of a banned Muslim organization began torching Christian homes in the Punjabi city of Gora on Thursday after accusing them of desecrating pages from Islam's holy book, Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti said.
'There is no truth in the allegation [of desecrating pages from the holy book],' he told The Associated Press, adding that he had himself visited Gojra on Friday and asked police to provide protection to Christians who were facing threats.
Ok, so the Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti says the allegation of desecration is untrue. What if there is truth in the allegation?
2 comments:
Why are you labelling this as a riot?This is a planned massacre by the intolerant muslims against non-muslims..It's hard to imagine non-muslims in Pukistan desecrating the so called holy book..
What if there is truth to the allegations!? Well.
Like "contempt of court" is a criminal offence in most jurisdictions, "contempt of quran" is a serious offence in most societies where Muslims live in any number. Actually, for that matter, "contempt of quran" is a serious offence even if committed on territories where Muslims don't live. And "contempt of quran" has a broad legal interpretation. It refers not just to showing (what might be regarded as) disrespect to quran's contents, but also the physical form that that content takes, ie, the book itself. Thus, for example, tearing pages from quran constitutes a very serious manifestation of contempt of quran. Even if you did this on Antarctica, you are liable to be prosecuted by the international ummah. The rights granted by Allah in this respect to believers are absolute, immutable and supersede any other man-made rights.
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