Just as it was a remake of a successful movie, thousands of enraged protesters attacked Joseph Colony — a settlement of Christians in Badami Bagh area of Lahore — on March 8 in a way not unknown to the victims.
The attackers burnt their houses (150 to 200 units according to different claims) to ashes and took away with them whatever they could to teach them a lesson.
Their crime for which they were punished was that Sawan Masih, a sanitation worker booked under blasphemy charges, lived there and shared the same faith as the dwellers. They could only save their lives, which would now be spent rebuilding as they had been asked by the police to vacate the area the previous night for their safety.
They complied with the orders expecting in their innocence the police to guard their houses while they were away but this did not happen.
The members of the Christian minority have seen similar plots hatched and executed in the past in different parts of the country. It starts all too often with allegations of blasphemy against an accused, followed by registration of a criminal case against him or her, the arrest of the accused, a violent attack on the locality where they live, looting or burning the belongings of the accused and even hurting or killing of the accused or members of their community.
It is possible that the chain of actions may not be the same; for example, the accused is lynched even before the registration of a criminal case or there is simply no arrest but the end result a disaster. The incidents fanned by religious hatred in Shanti Nagar, Gojra, Sialkot, Mian Channu, Islamabad and other places have an unnerving pattern.
A lot has been written about the Joseph Colony tragedy; the reasons why it happened, the chain of events leading to arson and plundering and the post-tragedy response from NGOs, charities and government.
But what needs to be taken seriously is the realization that the existing administrative and criminal justice system have flaws which must be removed without delay.
The police fail to control the violent mobs and when they are apprehended they win acquittals from courts for various reasons. So instead of punishing the culprits and creating a deterrent for those who may think of resorting to similar violence in the future, the courts have to free them for reasons such as lack of evidence, witnesses, out-of-the-court compromises between parties etc. This in the long run encourages people to commit these crimes with impunity and without fear of being punished.
Outrage against a community harbouring a blasphemy accused is understandable but burning of empty houses in the presence of the police even after the arrest of the accused is not. This shows either the police are not capable of handling these situations or they are a partner to the crime and were there to facilitate the rampage.
The foremost reason why such incidents take place on a regular basis is that we do not learn from tragedies and despite knowing the flaws refrain from taking required action. A clear proof of this is that the 258-page report on 2009 Gojra tragedy compiled by Justice Hameed-ur-Rehman, then a judge of the Lahore High Court (LHC) and head of Tribunal of Inquiry, is with the Punjab government but it has so far not been made public. Seven people were burnt alive when a mob attacked a Christian community there and burnt their church and several houses.
However, there were some suggestions in the report which he forwarded to the government at the time to tackle this menace in future. A study of these suggestions shows very few of them have been considered by the government and, if honoured, would have helped avoid the Joseph Colony incident.
The report recommended the federal intelligence agencies be mandated to provide first-hand information at the divisional level, called for capacity and efficiency building of Special Branch, establishment of a special force for protection and protocol of VIPs and other vulnerable persons, exclusion of the role of Zila Nazim (District Administrator) relating to law and order, establishment of intelligence and crime prevention branches, framing of rules for effective utilisation of police in terms of Article 112 of Police Order 2002, constitution of district religious dispute resolution board, and gradation of the districts on the basis of sensitivity and enhancement of the law-enforcement personnel accordingly.
The explanation as to why the Punjab government failed to carry out amendments in anti-blasphemy laws is quite simple. Just like any other government, it cannot afford to invite the wrath of the general public, religious groups, political parties etc., who even mention lacunae in these laws as blasphemy itself. Former Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti and Pakistani Ambassador to U.S. Sherry Rehman were charged with this crime.
“We are not against anti-blasphemy laws; in fact, we are against the misuse of these laws. We are also against the partial application of these laws,” says a Christian school teacher who does not want to be named.
His point is that blasphemy cases are registered against Christians on public pressure even if there is not enough evidence but the clauses related to desecration of religious places and books of Christians are never applied.
He tells Pique that Lahore Senior Superintendent of Police (Investigation) Babar Bakht Qureshi has told the Supreme Court that the incharge of Badami Bagh was reluctant to register a case against Sawan Masih — the blasphemy accused — on the complaint of Imran Shahid, a Muslim barber running a shop in Joseph Colony, as the allegations were vague and there was no clear mention of what derogatory remarks were uttered by the accused. Both the complainant and the accused were long-time friends and inebriated when the alleged blasphemy happened.
On the other hand, he says, hundreds of bibles lying in Joseph Colony houses and two churches in the area were burnt. “Why no-one books the attackers on blasphemy charges?” he questions and refers to Sections 295 and 295 A of PPC which are mentioned below:
Section 295.
Injuring or defiling place of worship, with Intent to insult the religion of any class: Whoever destroys, damages or defiles any place of worship, or any object held sacred by any class of persons with the intention of thereby insulting the religion of any class of persons or with the knowledge that any class of persons is likely to consider such destruction damage or defilement as an insult to their religion shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
Section 295-A.
Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs:
Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the ‘religious feelings of any class of the citizens of Pakistan, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations insults the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, or with fine, or with both.
The prayer leader who placed some pages of Quran in a pile to implicate Rimsha Masih is free, he says, adding the witnesses who testified against him earlier retracted on their statements.
Intazar Mahdi, Advocate Lahore High Court, believes the role of police is crucial in violent incidents like these and starts from the moment a blasphemy incident is reported.
With the introduction of Police Order 2002 and winding up of district magistracy system, the police are not under the command of district management and act on their own. Had that system been in place, a district magistrate would have ordered the police to use force and stop or arrest the attackers, he adds.
He says police officials do not take action in such cases out of the fear of being victimized as has happened in the recent past. This is a major issue so the concerned police authorities must come up with a plan on how to operate and take command. The Article 112 of Police Order 2002 empowers police chiefs to “make rules for carrying into effect the provisions of this Order.”
The laidback attitude of police on such occasions is questionable, says Intazar, adding, they should have taken pre-emptive action under concerned laws such as Section 151 of PPC which says: “A police-officer knowing of a design to commit any cognizable offence may arrest, without orders from a Magistrate and without a warrant, the person so designing, if it appears to such officer that the commission of the offence cannot be otherwise prevented.”
The police knew of the planned attacks and that’s why they asked people to vacate their houses. Then why didn’t they take a pre-emptive action against those who instigated the mob to resort to violence, he questions.
The points highlighted by him were there in the tribunal report on Gojra incident but no action was taken.
The Supreme Court also seemed offended when it refused to honour a request by Punjab government to form a judicial commission to probe into causes of tragedy on March 18. It noted a judicial officer has to face humiliation when the recommendations of a judicial commission are not implemented.
Kashif Nawab, Team Leader at Social Action Transformation of Humanity (SATH-Pakistan), an NGO working for women empowerment, minorities, justice & peace, believes the political and social pressure groups press victims to enter into a truce with the accused against monetary compensation or by force. This results in acquittals and spreading of a perception that a crime of mob violence is practicably un-punishable.
The Badami Bagh police claim they have themselves become a complainant against attackers to avoid enforced compromise among parties. The arsonists are also being tried under terrorism charges which are non-bailable and non-compoundable.
However, a review of several similar cases tried in the past shows there are several ways to facilitate a patch-up between rival parties.
“You just make witnesses detract from an earlier statement or say he doubts the person being tried is not the one he had spotted at the crime scene, and the case becomes weak,” says Intazar.
The Punjab government may have realized where the fault lay and suspended several police officers due to their negligence. But this is not enough. Much more is required to make violent mob attacks against minorities a history.
A guideline suggested by the Gojra tragedy tribunal is handy with the government, but to start with the government can ensure that no culprit should go scot-free this time.
The writer is a senior journalist based in Lahore.
