Re: Mob loots, torches Christian colony in Lahore
Punjab government unwilling to unveil Gojra inquiry report - thenews.com.pk
LAHORE: Three-and-a-half years after the August 2009 bloody anti-Christians riots in Gojra in which eight members of the minority community were burnt alive and over 100 houses set on fire by religious fanatics, the Punjab government is unwilling to reveal the findings of the Gojra judicial tribunal. Its report was submitted to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in October 2009, seeking an immediate implementation of the recommendations.
Already elevated to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the one-man tribunal was headed by Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman who was a Lahore High Court judge at that time. The tribunal was constituted by Shahbaz Sharif after hundreds of hooligans belonging to the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) attacked a Christians’ locality in Gojra on July 31, 2009. Addressing a gathering of Christians in the Catholic Church on Sammundri road near Gojra a few days after constituting the tribunal, the chief minister had assured the Christian community that the culprits would be taken to task and recommendations of the judicial tribunal would be implemented in letter and spirit. The inquiry report was handed over to Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah almost two months later [on October 9, 2009] on behalf of Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman. However, 42 months later, the Punjab government is still not in a mood to make public the findings of the tribunal for inexplicable reasons.
The failure of the provincial government to prosecute any of the accused involved the gory incident had compelled Almas Hameed Mashi, who had lost seven of his family members, to abandon Pakistan, following death threats from the culprits for pursuing the case. Almas Masih had nominated Abdul Qadeer Awan, the president of Toba Tek Singh chapter of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) in the FIR as the prime accused along with the local leadership of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan which has already been renamed as the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat. However, all of them were set free one by one because the complainant in the murder case decided against pursuing the case and left Pakistan to save his life.
Those who had been involved in the preparation of the Gojra inquiry report believe that the anti-Christians uprising in the Badami Bagh area could have been averted had the Punjab government taken a stern action against those involved in the Gojra tragedy and implemented the recommendations of the Justice Iqbal Hameed Judicial Tribunal. The inquiry report had warned the Punjab government, “The Gojra tragedy must be taken seriously and the needful should be done on war-footing without further loss of time to avoid a replay of the gruesome episode”. The tribunal had taken two months to finalise its report after recording statements of 580 people including hundreds of the Christians, senior government and police officials and voluntary witnesses. Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, taking suo moto notice of the Badami Bagh riots, has already sought a copy of the Gojra tribunal inquiry report from the Punjab government, besides wondering as to why it has not been made public and its recommendations not implemented.
According to well-informed judicial circles in the Lahore High Court, the 258-page Gojra inquiry report held the police responsible for the events of Gojra massacre, saying the police high command should have deployed personnel in sufficient numbers to stop violence against the Christian community.
The inquiry report of the judicial tribunal had concluded: “The Gojra riots were a result of the inability of the law-enforcement agencies to assess the gravity of the situation, inadequate precautionary and preventive measures taken by the police, a lukewarm stance by the Toba Tek Singh District Police Officer (DPO), the failure of the intelligence agencies to provide prompt and correct information, a defective security plan, the irresponsible behaviour of the administration, the complete failure of police while discharging their duties, the non-enforcement of Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, omissions to take steps under sections 107 and 151 of the CrPC, failure to invoke the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) 1960 – which amounts to letting the miscreants loose to wreak havoc during the course of the Gojra riots – and several other factors.”
The tribunal report further proposed amendments to Pakistan Penal Code sections 295, 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 296, 297, 298, 298-A, 298-B, 298-C, anti-blasphemy laws, relevant provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code and the Police Order 2002 to discourage any such happenings in future.** The tribunal also recommended that “action without any discrimination should be taken by the Punjab government against all those responsible for commission and omission, especially the concerned police officials (including DIG of Faisalabad Ahmed Raza Tahir and District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Inkasar Khan. The DIG and the DCO were subsequently made OSDs by Punjab government. Intriguingly, however, hardly six months after the Gojra riots, the Punjab government decided to appoint Ahmad Raza Tahir as Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore [on March 7, 2011]. The Lahore High Court took notice of the move and asked the Punjab government to immediately withdraw his notification. Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif observed that Tahir’s appointment as CCPO was tantamount to contempt of court because LHC judge Iqbal Hameedur Rehman had previously recommended that strict action be taken against Tahir due to his failure to control the 2009 Gojra riots.
The CJ remarked: “Instead of any action being taken against Tahir, he has been awarded the premium of his commission and omissions and has been posted as CCPO, which is the most important assignment given to an officer of his rank.”
Justice Sharif said the appointment of Ahmad Raza Tahir would never be allowed in a society which upholds the rule of law. Tahir was transferred from Lahore two days later but appointed as the Regional Police Officer (RPO) of Gujranwala District a month later on May 7, 2011. One year later, while defying the court orders, Tahir was once against appointed the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore by none other than Shahbaz Sharif. However, a year later, on April 20, 2012, the blue eyed boy of the Chief Minister was removed as CPO Lahore, but only after the Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry reprimanded him in connection with the Sonia Naz rape case.
Tahir was made an OSD after the Chief Justice expressed his displeasure at the progress of Sonia Naz rape case submitted by Punjab police. He expressed his astonishment that Ahmed Raza Tahir, against whom adverse findings were made in the Gojra judicial inquiry report, had been posted as CCPO Lahore.
“It is an example of good governance of your province. He has been made CCPO to confront the judiciary”, observed the CJ while addressing the additional IG (investigation) Aslam Tareen over the matter. But barely a few months later, Ahmed Raza Tahir was again appointed as the Commandant of the Punjab Constabulary – an office he still holds as an Additional Inspector General.**