ISI, MI should probe incident to expose conspirators
CHITRAL: Civil society representatives demanded that intelligence agencies such as ISI and Mi should probe the blasphemy incident in Shahi Masjid Chitral to expose the conspirators behind it.
Speaking at a press conference, office-bearers of a civil society organization called Hadiyatul Hadi, including Razitu Billah, Naveed Ahmed Baig and Shahid Ahmed, said the Shahi Masjid incident seemed to be the handiwork of the enemies of Pakistan who had long been conspiring to create turmoil in the country by stoking sectarianism, regionalism, ethnicity and fundamentalism.
They said after the launch of work on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), international forces such as America, Israel and India had been hatching conspiracies from Afghanistan to pitch the people of Pakistan against each other and destabilize the country.
They demanded that the country’s premier intelligence agencies such as ISI and the MI should be tasked to probe the incident so that those who hatched the conspiracy to sabotage the peace of Chitral could be exposed and brought to justice. Meanwhile, routine life returned to the Chitral on Tuesday with law enforcement agencies still patrolling different parts of the town.
Police requisitioned from Upper Dir and personnel of the Chitral police performing duties in other districts are still in Chitral. Besides, the army personnel continued patrolling the town. Sources said the current security measures may remain in place until the coming Friday.
Over 150 people were taken into custody after they besieged the local police station and damaged its windowpanes demanding the handing over of a man who passed blasphemous remarks during the Friday prayers in the nearby Shahi Masjid. The sources said about half of the arrested people had been set free while others were still under custody and being probed based on footages of the Friday skirmishes made by the law enforcement agencies.
The car of Maulana Khaliquz Zaman, the khateeb of the mosque, was also burnt down on the premises of the mosque by angry people for handing over the alleged blasphemer to the police. Meanwhile, it has been learnt that the Mastuj administration and the Qaqlasht festival organizing committee would reschedule the remaining two days of the event soon. The festival started on April 20 but was postponed on April 21 after the Chitral Shahi Masjid incident.