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  • News Desk
  • Mar 17th, 2014
  • Comments Off on Alleged desecration of Holy Quran: unannounced curfew in parts of Larkana
Rangers and Police fired warning shots and resorted to tear gassing as a frenzied mob set a Hindu Dharamshala on fire here over alleged desecration of the Holy Quran. Enraged protesters attacked the Mandir and set the Dharmashala on fire while few of them surrounded the house of the man who was accused of burning the holy pages. Police and Rangers reached the spot to protect the Mandir and imposed a curfew on different areas to bring the situation under control.

A complete shutter down strike was observed in protest against the desecration of the Holy Quran in the entire district of Larkana on Sunday.

Police and Rangers have been deployed at all the worship places of Hindus and key business centres in the entire district.

According to police sources, the man accused of committing such sacrilegious act, has been apprehended by personnel of Market Police Station. The man, a Hindu youth, has been moved to a certain undisclosed location.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan took notice of the tense situation in the city and directed the law-enforcement agencies for expeditious steps to contain the flashpoint.

Taking notice of the incident, Chairperson of Pakistan People's Party Bilawal talked to Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on phone and directed him to control the situation.

Meantime, Chief Minister Shah summoned a report from DIG Larkana regarding the volatile situation.-INP

AFP adds: The arson took place on Saturday night in Larkana, the home town of opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari who is the son of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

"The law and order problem surfaced in the city Saturday evening after local residents accused a Hindu youth, Surjeet Kumar, of burning pages of the Holy Quran," senior local administration official Ghunwar Leghari told AFP.

Dozens of enraged Muslims attacked a Hindu temple in the city and set fire to its sanctuary, Leghari said, adding the situation had been brought under control overnight and Kumar was in police custody.

He added that there was a heavy deployment of police and paramilitary rangers to keep the peace on Sunday.

Another senior police official, Khadim Hussain Rind, confirmed the incident and said two Muslims had been arrested for their part in the violence.

Reacting to the attack, Zardari tweeted: "I consider attack on temple akin to attack on GKB (Garhi Khuda Baksh).perpetrators will b brought 2 justice as will people who spread lies and incited violence."

Garhi Khuda Baksh is a village which houses the Bhutto family mausoleum.

Hindus account for around nine percent of Larkana's population of around 400,000, with many running their own businesses.

Minorities are particularly suspectible to accusations of blasphemy in Pakistan, where Muslims make up 97 percent of the population.

The incident also had repercussions in Balochistan, where protesters angry at the alleged blasphemy in Larkana clashed with police in the towns of Osta Muhammad and Dera Murad Jamali. Two protesters and one policeman were injured during the clashes in Osta Muhammad, while four shops owned by Hindus were set ablaze, senior local police official Syed Ashfaq Shah told AFP.

Copyright Independent News Pakistan, 2013


Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2014


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