Author: Majeed Gill
Publication: Dawn
Date: June 16, 2006
URL: http://www.dawn.com/2006/06/16/nat10.htm
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.
