News
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Curfew imposed in Rawalpindi after 10 killed in clashes; army called in Multan, ChishtianSectarian tensions hit Punjab
* Dozens injured as clashes erupt between Shia mourners and students of a Sunni seminary in Rawalpindi; cloth market torched
* Protesters snatch weapons from police, pelt with stones
* Mobile services suspended ‘indefinitely’
* Army patrolling Multan, Chistian as clashes kill one
Staff Report/Agencies
ISLAMABAD: A curfew was imposed in Rawalpindi and army called in after 10 people were killed and several injured in clashes between Shia mourners and students of a Sunni seminary during an Ashura procession on Friday.
Violence also erupted in southern Punjab cities of Multan and Chishtian where civil authorities sought troops’ help to maintain law and order.
Fighting erupted in the garrison city of Rawalpindi when a procession of Shias marking the Ashura coincided with a sermon at a nearby Sunni mosque.
Angry Shia protesters attacked the Sunni mosque and seminary, torching its building and an adjacent cloth market, where workers on Saturday were still battling to extinguish the fire completely.
Rival groups then attacked each other, TV cameramen and security forces and also fired gunshots.
Naqash Malik, a witness, and police officer Afzal Hussain told Daily Times that Shia mourners “beat to death” three men from the seminary for insulting them. As a result, Malik and Hussain added, clashes erupted between Shias and Sunnis.
The authorities deployed large numbers of troops in the city and later imposed a full curfew as soldiers patrolled the streets to stop protesters coming in from other cities.
“A curfew has been imposed in Rawalpindi city to avert further violence following the incidents on Friday,” Waseem Ahmed, a police official said.
“The curfew will remain until midnight on Saturday. The whole city has been closed down,” he said.
However, the Rawalpindi district administration later announced a three-hour relaxation in curfew from 9pm to 12am. Earlier, a 30-minute relaxation from 6pm to 6:30pm was also announced.
The district administration has warned citizens to stay indoors as “violation of curfew will not be tolerated”. It added that areas such as Rawal Town, Potohar Town and Cantonment were also under curfew.
Sources in police said that angry mobs also set a cloth market in Raja Bazar on fire and stopped fire brigade vehicles from reaching the site of arson. More than 100 shops were set ablaze, sources added. Unidentified people also pelted police with stones while a group of people snatched 10 rifles from policemen.Hospital officials said that those wounded in the violence had multiple injuries.
“So far we can confirm the death of eight people from the violence. We received a total of 44 injured people and 13 of them had gunshot wounds,” said Qasim Khan, a doctor at Rawalpindi’s district hospital. Deeba Shehnaz, a spokeswoman for rescue services, told AFP, “According to the latest figures, we can now confirm the death of nine people from the sectarian violence on Friday. At least 68 others were wounded during the clashes.”
The bodies of three students of the seminary were sent to Battagram.
The students were identified as Abdul Majid, a resident of Kharari Takri; Wahab a resident of Battagram and Khasta Khan of Jaisol Bazaar. They all were shot dead, sources said.
Cellular services remained suspended in the city on Saturday while authorities said the services would also be blocked in Islamabad.
All entry points into Rawalpindi were blocked, resulting in traffic chaos on Saturday morning that choked parts of the highways leading to Islamabad. Containers were placed in Faizabad to block Murree Road while security was tightened at all worship places in the city. An emergency has also been declared in all city hospitals.
The Rawalpindi education board cancelled intermediate examination in the city.
Also on Saturday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif phoned Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and sought update on the situation in Rawalpindi.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s House said the chief minister briefed the prime minister at length on the measures taken by the government to defuse tension in the area.
Shahbaz told Nawaz that he and his team were monitoring the situation on a “minute-to-minute” basis in consultation with the Pakistan Army, intelligence agencies and Ministry of Interior. The prime minister said that those responsible for the arson “should not be spared and their nefarious designs of creating discord in society must be defeated”.
Shahbaz Sharif had earlier told an official meeting following the clashes that the government would ensure the culprits for the clash are brought to justice.
“We condemn the act of violence in Rawalpindi and sympathise with the aggrieved families. We will take the culprits to the task,” he said in a statement.
The Punjab government has also set up a five-member committee to probe the carnage. Punjab Law Minsiter Rana Sanaullah will head the committee while the chief secretary, Rawalpindi commissioner, interior secretary and Punjab IGP are its other members.
The committee will investigate the matter and present its report to the chief minister within three days.
Separately in Multan, at least 12 people were injured when Sunnis took to the streets to protest the Rawalpindi incident, leading to clashes with Shias who fired warning shots in the air, a senior police official told AFP.
The Multan administration later called in the army to control the situation.
A person was killed and two others were injured in the clash in Multan’s Nala Wali Muhammad area, according to Online news agency.
Following the clash, it added, angry mobs blocked city roads by setting fire to tyres. In neighbouring Chishtian, a Shia mosque was partially damaged and several shops were destroyed when Sunnis torched it in retaliation to the violence in Rawalpindi.
Several shops were also torched in Chishtian as tensions spread to Haroonabad and Bahawalnagar.
According to reports, the army was controlling the situation in Haroonabad and Bahawalnagar. Section 144 was also imposed.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk