Army calls in Jhelum after worship place of Ahmadis burnt down near Kala Gujran
Jhelum, Pakistan: Army has been deployed in Rathia Jhelum to control situation where enraged mob burnt down factory of a family belonging to Alhamdullilah on Friday night and Ahmadi worship place on Saturday. Pakistan Army troops have been called to support district administration to control the situation.
Pakistani Interior Minister (Homeland security Minister) Ch. Nisar while taking notice of situation called Army in Jhelum and said in a statement that taking notice of state of affairs and law and order situation in Jhelum, he has ordered to deploy Army in Jhelum. He said that nobody will be allowed to take law into their hands. He said the troops will assist Punjab government to prevent any untoward incident in Jhelum.
Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif ensured protection of all minorities and non-Muslims in Pakistan after grave situation in Jhelum and passed orders to protect Ahmadis and their properties all over Pakistan, said an official source.
It may be mentioned that hundreds of Ahmadis were still inside the factory when factory was burnt down but they were safe from fire according to Ahmadi community sources.
Saturday was another day for mob to freely roamed around properties of Ahmadis in Jhelum and mob burnt down place of worship before Army was called in the city. It may be mentioned that mob burnt down a factory owned by members of the Ahmadiyya community on Friday after one of employees of factory allegedly committed blasphemy.
According to details, mob set ablaze a factory owned by an Ahmadi on Fridat night around 2200 hours and since it was a wood products factory, fire engulfed the entire factory within half an hour. No reports were reaching to city about the fate of workers who were inside the factory when factory was set on ablaze. However, sources belonging to Ahmadi community confirmed that workers were safe and not hurt.
“There is ongoing security situation at Jehlum chip board factory and at other places belonging to Ahmadi. However, as per the information released last by the community spokesperson most of the people inside were confirmed safe”, said a local of Rathia Jhelum.
It may be mentioned that one twit against Ahmadis of Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, chairman Pakistan Ulema Council has been used by Ahmadi community as “instigator” for attacking Ahmadis in Jhelum. However Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi believes that nobody was hurt in Jhelum and he has demanded investigation of the event.
Attacks against Ahmadis are relatively low in Pakistan since last massive attack that took place on 28 May 2010 when two worship places in Lahore belonging to the Ahmadiyya Community were attacked by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi. The attacks were carried out nearly simultaneously at worship place namely Darul Al Zikr, Garhi Shahu and worship place Bait Al Noor Lahore Model Town. More than 90 Ahmadis were killed and 108 were injured in the incident. Three days later militants attacked the Intensive Care Unit of Jinnah Hospital Lahore where victims and one of the alleged attackers were under treatment. 12 mostly police officers and hospital staff, were killed in the shootout while terrorists managed to escape.
It may be mentioned that over 50,000 Muslims have been killed in Pakistan by TTP terrorists during the last five years. Pakistan Army launched operation Zarb-e-Azb against terrorism in June 2014 and this operation is bringing results but extremists are again emerging to the scene since last one month.
