SHIKARPUR: The Pesh Imam of a mosque belonging to the Shia community suffered burns when his Hujra (a residential quarter allotted to a prayer leader within a mosque) in Jamra village of Shikarpur was set on fire in the early hours of Sunday.

According to the victim, Maulvi Sabir Hussain Khoso, he was asleep in the Hujra at Majid Al-Mahdi when the arson attack took place. He said he woke up after feeling the heat of the fire and found himself surrounded by flames. He said he rushed out of the Hujra to save his life but suffered burns.

Maulvi Khoso claimed that he also smelt petrol fumes and saw three or four persons fleeing the mosque moments after he rushed out of his quarter.

Personnel from the Lakhi Ghulam Shah police station visited the mosque and also recorded the victim’s statement.

Maulvi Khoso told them that the attackers allegedly belonged to a proscribed sectarian outfit and also identified one of them as Aurangzeb Khoso.

The victim was taken to the Shikarpur Civil Hospital where doctors referred him to the Sukkur Civil Hospital for treatment.

The incident and the victim’s statement caused alarm in the local Shia community as leaders of various organisations including Quaid-i-Millat-i-Jafaria Allama Syed Sajid Ali Naqvi, Shia Ulema Council leader Maulana Zahooruddin Mekho, Azhar Hajano, Ghulam Abbas Bhayo, Sajjan Mahar, Nadir Hajano and Arz Mohammed Kharoos rushed to the village and visited the mosque. They condemned the attack and vowed to foil such conspiracies against the community. They urged the federal and Sindh governments to ensure safety and security of clerics, leaders and members of the community and protection of its religious places.

However, Lakhi DSP Atta Mohammed Abbasi and Lakhi Ghulam Shah SHO Mumtaz Murawat quoting the chieftain and several members of the Khosa community in Shikarpur said that the attack might be the result of a dispute between Maulvi Sabir Khoso and certain Khoso community members. The police officers advised the Shia leaders not to give the incident a sectarian colour until they reached a conclusion over the actual motive.

They held out the assurance that a fair and transparent investigation into the incident would be conducted.

The Shia leaders insisted on deployment of Rangers personnel at their religious places in the district and launching of an operation against terrorists in the wake of repeated attacks on their community members.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2015