ISLAMABAD - Interior Minister Brig (retd) Ijaz Ahmed Shah Tuesday assured a delegation of PTI lawmakers that the Ministry of Interior would fully coordinate to investigate the riots that had erupted in Ghotki town of Sindh following allegations of committing blasphemy against a school principal.
A parliamentary delegation of PTI representatives from Sindh including MNAs Jaiparkash Luhana, Lalchand Malhi as well as Jamshed Thomas and led by Chief Whip of PTI in the National Assembly Amir Dogar met with the interior minister in his office.
A statement issued by the Ministry says that the delegation expressed his concerns over the situation of minorities in Sindh and Ghotki incident which took place on 14 September, 2019.
A day after a student levelled allegations of blasphemy against his school principal belonging to the Hindu community, the enraged mob on last Sunday vandalized properties of Hindu community of worth millions of rupees, damaged their temples and looted their shops. They also damaged the house of the school principal.
The interior minister informed the delegation that he had been in close coordination with chief secretary and inspector general of police of Sindh besides with the security agencies and the Rangers since the day event had taken place. He also condemned the attack on worship place of Hindus and stated that the attackers have been charged for blasphemy.
“The people who incited the mob have been arrested and further investigations are underway,” the minister said adding that everyone was equal before law and nobody was allowed to take law in hands. Those who have taken are behind the bars without any discrimination of their caste, colour or religion, he said. He further said that a significant progress has already been made in this case.
The Ghotki police, the other day, booked 188 people and at least seven suspects were arrested in cases pertaining to the Sunday unrest for attacking temples, vandalizing properties, and provoking others to acts of violence.
Separately, the representatives of Cricket Australia, the national governing body for cricket in Australia along with chief executive officer and director Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) visited Ministry of Interior to review the security situation in Pakistan.
Secretary Interior Maj (Retd) Azam Suleman Khan briefed the delegation over the internal security situation of Pakistan.
Australian cricket team is tentatively scheduled to visit Pakistan in the year 2020/21. Spokesperson of Ministry of Interior, Additional Secretary Abdul Aziz Uqaili gave detailed presentation explaining the security situation in the country.
They were briefed over the conduction of operations to completely eradicate the menace of terrorism and how the overall security situation has improved in the country, the ministry said in a statement.
The delegation was informed that international cricket has returned to the country over the recent time and it is entirely safe for the foreign teams visiting Pakistan and play cricket.
The delegation showed satisfactory response to the briefing they received and hoped that full scale return of international cricket in the country is expected soon.
The ministry of interior is striving to make the country safe for all sport activities, said the secretary interior.