Partial strike in Sindh over alleged Quran desecration

E-Paper | March 12, 2026

LARKANA: A partial strike was observed on Sunday in Larkana and some areas of Balochistan over alleged desecration of the Holy Quran, DawnNews reported.

Police officer Anwar Laghari said Sunday that the incident took place overnight near Jinnah Bagh chowk in Larkana city, after some people said they saw burned pages of the Quran in a garbage bin near the home of man who belonged to the Hindu community. The officer said initial investigation revealed that the man had rented the house from a Muslim family and cleaned it before he moved in. He may have burned the holy book inadvertently, the policeman said.

The situation in the area turned tense following the incident and a crowd of 200 persons gathered and attacked the minority community's temple.

Leghari said the building was partly gutted and the alleged desecrater was taken into protective custody.

Vehicular traffic remained sparse in the affected areas as a complete shutterdown was observed and businesses, shops, filling stations and markets were closed for business.

Moreover, a ban on pillion riding was imposed in the city under Section 144.

Additional contingents of police and Rangers were deployed in the affected areas to avoid any untoward incident.

A clash between protesters, mostly belonging to religious organisations, and police took place in Dera Allahyar area of Sindh. Police resorted to aerial firing after coming under stone pelting from the protesters.

Two of the protesters and one policeman was injured in the incident.

Moreover, ten shops were also burnt down on Jinnah road in Jaffarabad's Osta Mohammad tehsil.

Another incident was reported in Sohbatpur area where police resorted to gunfiring to disperse the protesters.

Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ibad taking notice of the incident ordered for measures to ensure the protection the life and property of the people.

PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto tweeted against the violence:

— Ali Nawaz contributed to the reporting of this story

Pakistan

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Parvez

Mar 16, 2014 01:53pm

The TTP and religious extremist sympathisers have many ticks up their sleeve..........the government appears helpless.

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saeeds

Mar 16, 2014 02:50pm

@Parvez: Again blaming government. What is people doing silent. Accept very few liberal organization raise voice against this kind of incident . Rest of Pakistani do nothing other than criticizing government.

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Sajjad Ali Gopang

Mar 16, 2014 04:30pm

Only Black sheep should be dug out and should be punished according to Islamic Sharia.

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Mar 16, 2014 05:06pm

What happens to hundreds of copies of Quran when Taliban terrorists blast mosques and mazaars?

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khanm

Mar 16, 2014 05:11pm

Eight percent of those who are outraged by the desecration of Quran probably never read the this sacred book. The problem I see is frustrated and anger boiling in side us

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Rao

Mar 16, 2014 05:13pm

@Sajjad Ali Gopang: Sir , would you like to suggest who these black sheep are and how do you recognize them, let alone punish them?

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AHA

Mar 16, 2014 05:48pm

@SR: "What happens to hundreds of copies of Quran when Taliban terrorists blast mosques and mazaars?" Of course, the Talibans are not guilty, because they commit those acts in the name of The most beneficent The most merciful.

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nawab khan

Mar 16, 2014 05:48pm

It's quite unfortunate that the reporters of a highly reputed newspaper don't scrutinize the news they are printing, to make things clear let me inform the reporter that Dera Allayar in Jaffarabad district is not in Sindh, but in Balochistan. Please avoid making blunders in chances of ratings...

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Khawar T khyam

Mar 16, 2014 06:09pm

We do not read Quran that is our choice. We do not act on Quran teaching that is our action. We do not care Quran in our home that is ok but we are ready to kill any one who will disrespect our holy book. What a hypocrite we are. Go kill in the name of God that what we all Muslim believes.

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Ash

Mar 16, 2014 06:21pm

That's right, blame the outsider and never look inward.

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Fiz

Mar 16, 2014 06:27pm

Here we go again! Socially starved nation want some entertainment at the cost of other people's life.

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zehra

Mar 16, 2014 06:41pm

Extremism :/

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ROHIT PANDEY

Mar 16, 2014 06:58pm

First it was Rimsha Masih and now this....I really wish the divine would step in and stop atrocities in it's name!!! Mobs-illiterate and emboldened by lack of enforcement of law and order-taking the law in it's own hands!!!!

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faiz

Mar 16, 2014 07:15pm

Forget religion. Move towards rationality and common sense. Stop being brainwashed. Live, be good to others, and be happy.

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Salim A

Mar 16, 2014 07:35pm

The terrorist and ignorant by their actions, will advance the cause for atheists, far quicker than the blasphemous.

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Sarthak

Mar 16, 2014 07:38pm

Are minorities in any country more vulnerable than they are in Pakistan? It seems the Pakistani society is just looking for an excuse to beat down faiths which are already in life support in Pakistan.

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Jibran

Mar 16, 2014 07:50pm

After Ramsha Masih's case, the police should check if it wasn't a mullah who actually burned the Quran and planted the evidence implicate the Hindu man. And by the way, what happened to the Ramsha case mullah? Did any of the self righteous "religious" organisations sent their footsoliders to behead that guy?

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Addy

Mar 16, 2014 07:52pm

According to news reports the mobs were led, aided and abetted by religious organizations. Where does their leadership stand and why shouldn't they be held answerable?

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Ragu

Mar 16, 2014 08:05pm

Why are all these Zealots so insecure? Slightest news of 'an insult' either verified or unverified, there is immediate violence. But when Taliban bombs Mosques, kills fellow muslims and shoots young Muslim girls for wanting to go to school, we do not hear any Mullahs crying out loud or issuing Fatwas. These folks bring much shame to a great religion and a great nation.

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Moo

Mar 16, 2014 08:09pm

Minorities in Pakistan will never burn any page of Quran as they know the consequence. This is done by someone else for ulterior motive or to disturb Hindus on the day of Holi.

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Astro

Mar 16, 2014 08:34pm

yet another example of religious harmony and religious tolerance in Sindh...

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Ajay

Mar 16, 2014 08:34pm

Sad. A pity that people think so much about religion and forget God in the process. Pray that the violence subsides.

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AdHawk

Mar 16, 2014 09:00pm

How gracious of the governor to 'take notice'. By the way, isn't that the CM's headache?

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zaheer mustafa

Mar 16, 2014 09:14pm

Sickening news.What breeds such lunatics? Have we taken full responsibility to defend God (who is himself most powerful)? Has God delegated this responsibility to us as He is too weak? An isolated act cannot be justification for this rampage. Either we chose to be called civilized or be "religious"!!

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independentthinker

Mar 16, 2014 09:25pm

@SR: You are absolutely correct! These useless, worthless individuals are just waiting for an excuse to cause havoc in the community. How can we communicate to these illiterate thugs that our religion is strong enough to withstand such incidents and that we don't need to shut down our already failing economy, sacrifice limited resources that we have to curtail violence and seek revenge from everyone that belongs to another faith, when it was an act of one individual - which has still not been proven. While it will take a long long time to educate our people, so that they can distinguish between right and wrong - what our government can do right now -to stop this insanity from escalating is 1) Impose harshest punishments to those who are found to be instigating violence and 2) arrest and put behind bars, individuals who are promoting such extremists views before they can brainwash the minds of our younger generation.

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Sirajuddin Mallick

Mar 16, 2014 09:51pm

Our society has reached a point that any rumor or planted event can spark violence. It shows lack of faith in the government and a collapse of its functionaries. Any person or small group can make a situation like this happen. Majority should should not let them be hostage to a tiny minority. I see no reason why any person from our minority community can do this. This appears to be due to some ulterior motives. This is responsibility of the elected persons with the help of the law enforcement regencies to go to the people and calm them both by convincing them and judicious use of heavy hand if needed. Unruly crowd is a group with lost sanity.

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Hamid Ali Tabatabai

Mar 16, 2014 10:12pm

@Parvez: The government just took money from Saudi Arabia to ensure their brand of Islam. they are willing participants.

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Md. Ansar

Mar 16, 2014 10:13pm

@Parvez : It could be true that it was accidental , this type of over hyping issues and taking law into own hands has no meaning - may be these guys were looking for a excuse to show off by way of violence, they don't represent religion of peace. Strict action should be taken against this miscreants.

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Indian

Mar 16, 2014 10:19pm

I am an Indian, I hope situation becomes normal. I am a Hindu and I believe in Aman Ki Asha. People who commit such acts are people who don't believe in god and are misguided, I pray god to forgive such people and lead them to piety. I know whole Liberals community in Pakistan are backing the Hindu community. Let give god give the strength to the state of Pakistan and particularly to the province of Sindh to safeguard the religious, sectarian, linguistic and ethnic minorities and weaker sections of society.

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Rohit

Mar 16, 2014 10:49pm

It is high time for Pakistan to become secular nation and join the modern world. This will bring peace and prosperity for them & peace in south Asia,

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aaa

Mar 16, 2014 11:33pm

mobs just arent controllable. One news after the other keeps on coming. shops burnt people injured. It seems a reason is needed.

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Amir

Mar 16, 2014 11:47pm

@ROHIT PANDEY: "....I really wish the divine would step in and stop atrocities in it's name!!!..." It is the "divine" who are inciting violence in the name of religion. What is so sad is that it is all "alleged" and there is no evidence who did it. Unfortunately, this has become a norm in the Pakistani society that people and particularly the so-called religious people use these tactics to fulfill their agenda. What a shame.

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Amir

Mar 16, 2014 11:50pm

@Rohit: Well said and this is what the country was supposed to be, a secular state. Unfortunately, it was hijacked by the religious fanatics, the extreme right, with the help and backing of dictators like Zia and the corrupt and terrorist countries like the Saudi Arabia and the Qatar who have been funding these Jihadi outfits to promote their brand of religion.

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Amir

Mar 16, 2014 11:54pm

@Indian: I appreciate the kind words. Growing up in Karachi, I had friends who were non Muslims (Hindus, Parsis, etc.) but we were all a big family and NEVER had any issues. When I look at the Pakistan of today, the past seems like a distant dream. What a shame.

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Amir

Mar 16, 2014 11:58pm

@Ajay: Very welll said Ajay. People do forget that we are first human beings and then belong to any religion and being human beings, we have certain responsibilities that we need to fulfill. Unfortunately, we conveniently shun our responsibilities and start judging the others more than even our creator judges us.

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Rohit

Mar 16, 2014 11:58pm

@Amir: If you are pakistani then I appreciate your thought & guts that you choose to be secular. Let us start contributing towards peace, harmony, Science & technology & take the human race to next step..

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Siddhesh

Mar 17, 2014 12:20am

Reading some of these comments makes me hopeful. Religious fanatics often underestimate the human resolve. With the help and support of educated, peace loving, good fearing pakistanis like you, I am sure that the temple will be rebuild.

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Shahid Khan

Mar 17, 2014 12:25am

"It is easier to dominate a people by exciting their passions than by looking after their interests."

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mozef

Mar 17, 2014 12:26am

We have to start turning the clock back before we become a failed state. We have to start with some simple stuff: 1. Abolish these draconian laws 2. Remove 'Islamic' from the 'Islamic Republic of Pakistan'.

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Ayaz

Mar 17, 2014 01:14am

What about the inhuman treatment of Non-Muslims and trashing of their religions and values? Muslims just say that Islam is just and fair but never apply the principles. It is just in the book. Muslims have to grow up and behave like reasonable adults.

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ali abbas

Mar 17, 2014 01:57am

Even though PPP and Bilawal hater wont miss any opportunity to criticize this young politician, he is the only one with enough courage to criticize these illiterate and misguided Muslims. Many seasoned and supposedly mature politicians, media personalities and religious leaders show no courage to support minorities, this includes senior PPP leaders. Shame on these politician, community leaders, media personalities and public in general. As someone else said in these comments , where is the outrage when Talibans blow up mosques?

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Amir

Mar 17, 2014 02:42am

@mozef: I second your thoughts. We need a better education system where we teach our kids to become humans first and then something else. Where there is less emphasis on blindly "memorizing" Quranic versus than the message they carry. In today's Muslim world, there are very few scholars who can interpret Quran and Sharia properly. What we have are fake Mullahs whose only "qualification" is that they have memorized the Quran "without" understanding a single world of it. We have councils like the CII that are run by the Mullahs from the dinosaur era who have never had the guts to issue decree against the TTP thugs but they don't miss any opportunity to suppress the women.

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Rauf

Mar 17, 2014 03:59am

Who burnt the Quran, no one tried to find out. The is extreme form of ignorance. What I see the Pakistanis are suffering from ignorance syndrome and need proper treatment. Proper treatment includes getting rid of fake mullahs and TTP mentality. Other important treatment is following the life of prophet (PBUH).

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Kish

Mar 17, 2014 05:46am

One thing I noticed that there are people in Pakistan believe that they should respect the other religion.Every one know that burning a copy of religious book will create a problem so people won't do this. End of the story, this only a work from some one just to create a problem. I think everyone in the world should believe that the other religions are there and one has to openly accept it and learn to respect it.This should be preached in the school and society otherwise this will continue.

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Siddharth

Mar 17, 2014 07:29am

True test of resolve is to see if the temple is rebuilt. There isn't much use of apology and talk of of respect to other religion, only two things show resolve in GOVT and people- 1. Is an investigation launched to determine how it all happened 2. Is Hindu community allowed to make another temple 3. Confidence building measure by creating a panel consisting respected members of Hindu and Muslim community. This will avoid such incidences in future.

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Daanish

Mar 17, 2014 08:13am

This shows total failure of CM SHAH's PPP Government. He should retire and have some talented youngster from PPP to lead our Sindh province. Otherwise CM SHAH should resign with SHAME !!

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Prakash

Mar 17, 2014 08:57am

I am pleasantly surprised to have read the response of Pakistani Moslems.As against my information(through media), there are peace-loving,secular people with modern outlook, who constitute Pakistani Society.Minority Hindus do have a chance .

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Indian

Mar 17, 2014 09:09am

@Amir: Its due to people like you and newspapers like Dawn which are impartial and brave that there is still sanity and justice left in Pakistan. Keep up the good work.

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Raj

Mar 17, 2014 09:18am

@Ayaz: Ayaz Sahib, As a child I was scared of water , I completed my engineering but still the fear remained , so finally I learnt swimming and then my water fear was gone. So I learnt that knowledge makes a person fearless only in that area about which you have obtained the knowledge . The shop of religion runs on fear, this is what they sell. Fear keeps all these religions alive, they want their followers to remain fools and the more fool a person is, the more emotional that person will become towards that religion and more useful that person will become for that religion. We have university graduates , post graduates and doctorates in specific areas but in the matter of religion in absence of knowledge these educated people are still fools and emotional and are more or less at par with the illiterates. Religion is kind of an open jail in which the inmates are mentally bound to reside.

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Muhammad

Mar 17, 2014 11:34am

What type of sick minded people are this...Hating doesnt work...love minorities.......This people are demeaning the true spirit of Islam...shame on these people

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siddharth

Mar 17, 2014 07:16pm

For all those ppl who made fun of indian democracy....challenging freedom of speech in india. What now?

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Ashraf

Mar 18, 2014 12:47am

Islam is PEACE LOVE and HUMANITY.....In my opinion most Muslims dont even know Roots of Islam , they must read Quran and Hadith and try to understand meaning . So they can turn in to real good person . Mohammed (SAW) never hated non muslims. JFK said "Ask not what country can do for you, Ask what you can do for the country." Sincerely, Ashraf (USA) ashwmirza@yahoo.com

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siddharth

Mar 18, 2014 10:55am

A religion may say anything.....but image of a religion is created by its followers. Image of hindus took a beating after babri masjid demolition. Even the people who were not involved and were hindus earned bad image. And that's the least of the problems. Imagine the image of india when it comes to protecting minorities. As a hindu and as an indian , I know deep in our hearts we have respect for all religions....but whatever we may claim...our deeds say otherwise. It took thousands of years and don't know how many holy men to decide about how a hindu should spend his life. It took just some years to destroy that. The day we started demolishing others places of worship....the day we started killing people of other religions in the name of self defence...we were actually killing our own religion. On the same lines don't know how many times in a day....the holy quran is being destroyed by the followers of islam. Its time to introspect.....if we are clear that these incidents will only do bad to islam...what are we doing about it. Do you guys want the minorities to come to your side...or there would be someone who gets up and says that islam doesn't allow this to be done....and as a true muslim ...its our duty to protect the minorities. And for people who would question what are hindus in india doing to get the confidence of the minorities back....believe me we hindus in india have gone to all together a different level on this. Indian muslims vote to hindus and there are hindu leaders who speak and take corrective actions to get the confidence of the minorities back.

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Rushin

Mar 18, 2014 03:58pm

If you guys really care, go and show them by rebuilding temple right now. This is the RIGHT time to do it. If you let Hindus do it or do it after six months, it will miss the point.

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saleem

Mar 19, 2014 01:13am

Till we get rid of the mini talib thriving in all pakistani muslims, we would not be able to tackle this 'holier than thou' mind set and learn to live in respect with other communities

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