A Superintendent of Prisons, the highest ranking officer in the prisons system, having affiliations with a banned Islamic group, has burnt two places of prayer (mosques) and a church inside the jail premises in a hate move against the religious minorities.
Mr. Tariq Mehmood Khan, the Superintendent of Central Prison of Faisalabad, Punjab province, who has never attempted to hide his affiliation with a banned terrorist organization, the Anjuman-e-Sipah-e-Sahaba, is now cleansing the biggest prison of the district of members from religious minority sects.
On Friday, March 2, Tariq Mehmood Khan, with the help of prison staff demolished two very old Shia Mosques in the jail, one in Barrack number 3 (for prisoners under trial) and the other in Barrack No 5 (for convicted prisoners). He also desecrated the holy book of Quran when he destroyed some sacred books of the Shia sect. According to the jail inmates he was not aware that there were instruction and informational booklets and pamphlets on the Quran with the Shia books when he destroyed them. Furthermore, in his hatred, he burnt the Aalim Mubarik, a holy book of Shias bearing the name of the Holy Prophet (Peace be Upon Him and his Progeny) and the 12 Imams, the legacy of Shia’s religious leadership. He also committed blasphemy with the Quran e Kareem and other religious books present in these 2 Shia Mosques. He had also banned the right of Azadari, a commemorating ritual in the memory of martyrs of the Karbala in Jail, which was allowed to continue for many years in the jail where people from other sects also participate.
Two days before this incident he demolished a Church inside the prison, which hosts Christian prisoners under the freedom of Religious Practice Act and which had been there for decades. The prisoners also protested the demolition but he threatened them to send them to the solitary confinement ward.
The provincial law minister of Punjab also belongs to Faisalabad and it is no secret that he also has very close links with the banned religious groups which are operating freely, including collecting funds from the market places. The media has produced his photographs with the leaders of banned religious organizations during the election campaigns for the ruling party of the province. The provincial government has always been the part of hate campaign against the Ahmadis, the members of a black listed Islamic sect, by allowing posters and huge banners against the Ahmadis in which they are referred to as Waji-ul-Qatl, (liable to be killed).
The prosecution department of the provincial government always makes very weak cases against the militants who were involved in sectarian killings. One Malik Ishaq, who himself confessed to murdering 70 persons in sectarian killings and attack on Sri Lankan cricket team has benefit to come out from the jails on the bails.
The Punjab province is fast becoming a battlefield for the religious minority groups to obey the dominating sect of Islam or leave the country. There are also reports from Punjab province that Hindus, living along the Indian borders in southern part of the province, are forced to convert to Islam through the mushrooming growth of Islamic seminaries (Madressas) who support the abduction of Hindu girls. This is now a common practice and when the perpetrators are caught the leaders of the Madressas declare that girl has embraced the Islam. According to Hindu Panchayat every month 200 such cases are reported from that part of the Punjab.
The Asian Human Rights Commission urges the government to immediately suspend Superintendent Tariq Mehmood Khan and prosecuted him under Section 95 C of the Pakistan Penal Code. The holy places demolished by his acts of hatred must be restored completely and immediately. Article 20 of the Constitution of Pakistan must be followed by the Punjab province and the federal government should not allow such practices against the religious minority groups.
