RAWALPINDI - President APML Sheikh Rashid has said the bloody sectarian clashes in Rawalpindi were mainly due to the feeble security arrangements made by the district administration and the provincial government.
“The government should request the judge of high court to probe the bloodshed. The fire of sectarianism should be put off at the earlier stage or else it would grip the whole country,” cautioned Rashid, MNA from NA-55, while holding a press conference at Lal Haveli here on Saturday.
He said that he has been trying to contact the district administration to review the security situation but no officer could be reached.
He said that he held talks with Daral Aloom Taleem-ul-Quran head Maulana Muhammad Ashraf and Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqa Jafriya (TNFJ) Chief Allama Hamid Mosavi and discussed the situation.
Commenting on the torching Madina Market by the charged mob, Sheikh said that those who fired the markets and the attackers were outsiders as he recognized the local people very well. “These anti-social elements were not locals,” he said.
“Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif should not treat Rawalpindi as step son rather consider it his own city and take steps to maintain law and order situation in the city,” Sheikh Raheed said. He said that he would make efforts to hold a talk between Ulema of all schools of thought to normalize the situation.
Responding to a query, the AML President said that this should be inquired as from where the attackers carried petrol which they sprinkled on the markets and mosque and why they were not checked by the law enforcement agencies.