Under Articles 295, 295-A of the Constitution, a person who ‘hurt religious sentiments of anyone’ is liable to be punished: Justice Isa
n Punjab IGP asks Christian families to return to their homes n Says 6,500 police officials are deployed on security duties in Jaranwala.

 

FAISALABAD/LAHORE  -   Justice Qazi Faez Isa, senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court (SC), visited Jaranwala on Saturday to inquire about the situation of the local Christian community after Wednesday’s riots over alleged desecration of the Holy Quran. 

Justice Isa along with his wife paid a visit to the Christian-pop­ulated area of Jaranwala, where he met the affectees and as­sessed the conditions of the burnt buildings. Speaking to the Christian victims, he said, “If anyone attacks churches, it is the responsibility of Muslims [to catch] the attackers.”

Stating that he “does not com­municate with journalists” due to his profession, the judge in­formed one of the locals that he had written a message for them. Justice Isa further told him that he had brought some “food packets” for them, which he acknowledged were akin to a “drop in the ocean.”

“We want others to do the same,” he added. “Who has the greatest responsibility? [It is] Muslims. They should help you,” the SC judge said.

“Why leave everything to the state?” he asked, noting the glacial pace of state machinery to “tenders, etc”, which would take time.

Justice Isa asked the Chris­tian leader to see who needed aid the most according to their financial status and according­ly distribute the items. He then communicated with the resi­dents about which other areas needed help and asked that he be taken there.

Separately, in a statement is­sued after his visit to Jaranwala, Justice Isa quoted verses from the Holy Quran and said Mus­lims were told to fight against those who harmed churches.

He highlighted that faith in Prophet Isa was one of the prin­ciples of Islam and recalled events from history where Mus­lim religious leaders had shown respect to Christianity.

The SC justice further stat­ed that under Articles 295 and 295-A of the Constitution, a per­son who “hurt the religious sen­timents of anyone” was liable to be punished. 

“Violating the Constitution is considered a grave crime … what happened in Jaranwala was a violation of Pakistan’s law and Constitution,” he asserted.

Noting that Islam was a re­ligion that encouraged peo­ple to wish peace upon oth­ers when they meet each other, Justice Isa rued, “The few fol­lowers of this religion who call themselves Muslim violated the teachings of their religion and displayed barbarism and abuse to this extent.”

The puisne judge further de­manded that the victims of the Jaranwala incident should be compensated in every way possible.

Also, Punjab Police Inspector General Police Dr Usman Anwar gave detailed briefing about the security of the Christian com­munity in Jaranwala, resto­ration of houses and places of worship and said that the jour­ney to return to peace has now begun in Jaranwala. 

Dr Usman Anwar said that more than 6,500 police officers and personnel were on high alert and performing their du­ties. He added that according to the vision of the Prime Minister of Pakistan and directions of the Chief Minister Punjab, the pro­cess of reconciliation and recon­struction had started. “Conse­quently, members of the peace committee, scholars, Christian community leaders, priests are sitting together and there has been a discussion; they hugged each other,” he added, terming it a great progress in the pro­cess of reconciliation and recon­struction.

He said that many Christian families had returned to their homes, Punjab Police shifted their children and families to Daanish School and the resto­ration and renovation work of their homes was being complet­ed at a war footing.

The IG said, “We guarantee all the Christian families that there is no need to panic or fear in the presence of the police force, Ranges and intelligence agencies. All Christian families should return to their homes, your homes are looking forward to you all. The Punjab govern­ment is ensuring all possible help in the work of reconstruc­tion of houses. Punjab Police with support of the adminis­tration arranged accommoda­tion and meals for the Christian families, members of the peace committee and citizens of Jaran­wala love their Christian broth­ers as much as they did before the incident.” 

Dr Usman Anwar said that the investigation into the incident on 100% merit was the work of the police which was being completed with complete trans­parency.

CHRISTIAN LEADERS CALL FOR JUDICIAL PROBE 

Former Punjab Minister for Human Rights and Minority Af­fairs Ijaz Alam Augustine has called for setting up a judicial commission headed by a high court judge for a transparent in­vestigation into the Jaranwala tragedy.

In a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Satur­day, he along with other lead­ers underlined the importance of bringing to the fore the mo­tives behind blasphemy allega­tions. They demanded account­ability of those involved in the encirclement and torching of churches and homes and called for severe punishment to those who made hate speeches and an apology to the state of Pakistan. 

Addressing the press confer­ence, Ijaz Alam Augustine con­demned the Jaranwala trage­dy and said that in the 76-year history of Pakistan, such an in­cident of burning churches, schools and Bibles had never happened. “Today, the Christian community is very sad all over the world. We have a question from the Punjab government that when the miscreants first acted at 5am, why did the police and the administration reach the crime scene after sixteen hours? Why were the riots not stopped and why was the police absent? Churches were burnt in the presence of the police. We demand that the administration be brought to justice. Why was a Christian Assistant Commis­sioner suspended?” Ijaz Alam emphasized that had the crimi­nals involved in the incidents of Shanti Nagar, Joseph Colony and Gojra been punished, the Jaran­wala tragedy might not have happened today.” 

Tolerance Movement Chair­man of Samson Salamat said, “My question is why the Chief Minister of Punjab has not yet visited Jaranwala? He is only meeting representatives of re­ligious minorities in his office. The government of Punjab has announced construction and repair of churches and hous­es but we demand that justice be provided immediately. The Christian community protest­ed together with their Muslim brothers against the desecra­tion of the Holy Quran in Swe­den and Norway and sent a message to the world that we are all Pakistanis.” 

Pakistan Minorities Alli­ance Chairman Tahir Naveed Chaudhry and Akmal Bhatti Ad­vocate appealed for the protec­tion of the Christian communi­ty. They demanded legislation in the next parliament and ap­pealed for the establishment of an internal action committee. 

Shahid Rehmat, Chief Exec­utive of Youth Development Foundation, said, “We all have to ensure prevention of such inci­dents in the future.” He insisted on taking emergency measures to rebuild the homes of the Christian community. He said, “We all have to promote inter­faith harmony among ourselves so that the path of those who spread hatred can be blocked”.

Pastor John A.D, Bishop Syl­vester Tahir Bhatti, Bish­op Dominic Javed and Bish­op Tauqeer Nasir emphasized ensuring the safety of the Christian community and an­nounced that their peaceful protest would continue till the Christian community gets jus­tice and protection.