Sectarian strife hits the dead

Published June 9, 2009

TOBA TEK SINGH, June 8 Pirmahal has been simmering with sectarian clashes since Sunday night when some religious zealots demolished the wall of a graveyard of Jamaat Ahmedia sect. The police have not taken any action against the attackers.

Labour Party Pakistan District Secretary Tariq Mahmood told a press conference here on Monday the attackers also set on fire a tractor-trolley and damaged a generator and a water tank at the site.

Mahmood says one acre was allotted to the sect for their graveyard in 1988 by the government and there were two graves at the site. According to him, some qabza groups wanted a 15-foot wide passage across the graveyard. When the graveyard management refused to meet their demand, they instigated ulema on sectarian grounds who led a crowd to attack the site.

Jamaat Ahl-i-Sunnah leader Maulana Akbar Rizvi claimed that allotment of the land in the heart of the city to the sect was a conspiracy to create law and order and “religious youth” just became out of control and demolished the wall.

He demanded the cancellation of the allotment, saying there was a fake grave in the graveyard.

A police official confirmed the incident, saying any action on the part of police would fan the sectarian strife.

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