APROPOS the letters ‘Tezgam tragedy’. One of the writers observes that mullahs were travelling with gas cylinders and gives his opinion of “their irresponsible nature”. A vast majority of the Tablighi Jamat members belong to various walks of life and they should not be called ‘mullahs’.

The writer states that the congregation members were using stoves. He should know that the incident took place at about 06.20am, which was almost the end time of Fajr prayer which is offered on a train in the narrow passage of the compartment. This takes time as several groups are made to form congregations. Thus it was no time for breakfast or heating meals. Furthermore, a majority of the eyewitnesses reported no cylinder explosion --except one injured passenger and by the driver of the train. It is strange how the fire quickly engulfed three compartments which could not happen in the case of a cylinder explosion.

This tragic incident requires a thorough, independent and impartial investigation.

Muhammad Aleem
Karachi

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2019