Punjab govt’s extremist links ‘threaten minorities’

The Express Tribune

Punjab government’s linkages with ‘extremist elements’ abetted periodic attacks on minorities, said rights activists in Parliament. In this connection, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights summoned Inspector General Punjab on March 14 for accountability over the Badami Bagh incident. The incident of setting fire to 150 houses belonging to Christians in Badami Bagh could have been averted if the police, who was present on the occasion, had stopped the 3,000 strong mob of extremist rioters from wreaking havoc, said human rights groups. Furthermore, not punishing culprits of the anti-Christian Gojra riots of 2009 was understood as another catalyst for the March 9 incident. However, Punjab government spokesman Senator Pervez Rashid flatly rejected the allegation of nursing such soft corners. “No, we are not supporting extremists. Unlike what happens in other provinces, the Punjab government has not issued a single weapons license to anyone.” Defending the provincial government’s role in the Gojra incident, Rashid said that the Punjab government’s prosecutor had strictly pursued the case in the ATC and opposed the settlement between the accused and the Christian victims’ families after paying blood money. About the Badamy Bagh incident, he said, the police focused on saving lives instead of properties – a move which was construed as inaction on its part. “This is a continuation of the Gojra incident,” said committee chairperson and human rights activist Riaz Fatayana, while talking to The Express Tribune. “This would not have happened if responsible elements and police officers, who were behind the Gojra tragedy, had been convicted.” Furthermore, Fatayana alleged that the Punjab government had a “soft corner for the extremist elements” and gives “patronage” to them, which is why such incidents were occurring in the province repeatedly.Chairperson Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Zohra Yusuf holds that it was indeed the Punjab government’s sympathies with extremist elements in the province which led to re-occurrence of atrocities against minorities. “The police’s inaction in Badami Bagh on March 10 is evidence of Punjab government’s link with extremists,” she maintained.