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HEADS ROLL AS BLASPHEMY ACCUSED LYNCHED IN NANKANA g
PM ORDERS INVESTIGATION INTO g IGP SUSPENDS TWO SENIOR INCIDENT TO ENSURE RULE OF LAW OFFICERS FOR NEGLIGENCE
NANKANA SAHIB
A
STAFF REPORT
35-year-old man arrested over blasphemy allegations was lynched on Saturday in Punjab’s Nankana Sahib district after a mob broke into the police station where the victim was being held. According to reports, the victim was accused of allegedly desecrating the Holy Quran and locals claimed the victim was involved in ‘witchcraft’. Following the accusation, he was handed over to the local police force, however, a mob later formed at the police station after news of the incident spread in the area. The mob demanded the police hand over the accused.
In videos that surfaced on social media, the mob can be seen scaling the large gates of the Warburton Police Station, forcing it open, after which the crowd entered the building. The mob then searched the police station for the victime, found and killed him, and then dragged the body naked through the streets as more people threw sticks and stones at the body. PM SHEHBAZ ORDERS INVESTIGATION: Taking notice of the incident, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an investigation. “Why didn’t the police stop the violent mob? The rule of law should be ensured. No one should be allowed to influence the law,” he was quoted as saying by a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office. PM Shehbaz said that ensuring peace
and order was the first priority for the relevant institutions responsible for that duty. SENIOR COPS SUSPENDED: The chief of Punjab police, Usman Anwar, suspended two senior officers for their failure to prevent the purported mob lynching of a man in Nankana Sahib over blasphemy allegations, according to a statement issued to the press by his office on Saturday. According to the statement, Anwar took immediate action after videos circulating on social media showed a violent mob outside a police station in the city named after the first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak, leading to the death of a man accused of “desecrating the Quran”. Videos that surfaced on social media showed a violent mob outside a police station, which the suspended officers, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Nawaz Waraq and Station House Officer (SHO) Feroz Bhatti, failed to control. Anwar has directed Syed Muhammad Amin Bukhari, deputy inspector general (DIG) of the Internal Accountability Branch, and Raja Faisal, DIG of the Special Branch, to investigate the incident and submit a report. Strict departmental and legal action will be taken against those responsible for the incident and for any acts of negligence and incompetence, according to the official. Meanwhile, Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC), a religious body representing clerics from across Pakistan, condemned the incident, calling it regrettable and condemnable.
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NAB’s ‘double standards’ in accountability destroyed Pakistan: PM Shehbaz LAHORE STAFF REPORT
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Saturday said that the “double standards” of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) pushed the country towards destruction. The prime minister made these remarks while speaking during a ceremony after laying the foundation of the Bab-e-Pakistan project, which is a national monument and the upgradation of Walton Road in Lahore. Speaking about the alleged graft in this project, the premier raised questions about the NAB’s performance that targeted innocent people but failed to summon those involved in such cases as this. “I wish no one goes to NAB’s akhuwat khana, not even my enemy. Innocent people were pushed against the wall. [But] this project, where billions were misap-
propriated, did NAB look into the elements who indulged in corruption in this project?” “It was the double standards that had caused harm to Pakistan. The rule of ‘might is right’ must be buried forever by the 220 million people of the country,” he said, adding the country could not move ahead on the path of progress and prosperity unless they collectively resist these tendencies. PM Shehbaz said that they were passing through hard times, but it was his firm conviction that with collective efforts, sacrifices and hard work, they would overcome these difficulties. He said all segments of the society, including the elite class, will have to come forward and support the nation with generosity, adding that there was no other way to reach to destination except adherence to these qualities.
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