Jhelum factory set ablaze in Pakistan after blasphemy allegation

An enraged mob set a factory on fire in Pakistan Punjab’s Jhelum district after rumours circulated in the area and announcements were made from mosques levelling blasphemy allegations on the owner and workers of the establishmen treports said, adding the incident took place late last evening.

According to police, hundreds of people surrounded the chipboard factory in Jhelum and set it on fire after reports that an employee, named Qamar Ahmad Tahir, had allegedly burnt the holy Quran. Four of them were later released. After the arrival of the army contingent, the situation calmed down, with the mob chanting slogans in favour of the army.

According to Express Tribune, many workers ran away from the factory complex which contained a residential area, with their families.

Punjab provincial police said the situation in Jehlum was under control, but police said it was still negotiating with local religious leaders and demonstrators to bring the standoff at the mosque to an end.

As a result, people not only the area but also from the nearby villages gathered to form a mob and set ablaze the factory. Trying to disperse them, police fired rubber bullets and fired tear gas shells at them.

Three members of Ahmadiyya community have been detained by the police.

The Interior Ministry said police and army had been deployed to the Jehlum district, 164 km (100 miles) north of the city of Lahore and that there were no casualties. Police, however, said that it released the persons arrested on suspicion of blasphemy.

“Three members of our community have been arrested by police under the charges of blasphemy”, he claimed.

Pakistan’s Ahmadis consider themselves Muslim but were declared as non-Muslims by the Constitution and are also barred from proselytising or identifying themselves as Muslims.

Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Pakistan, an Islamic republic of a few 200 million, where even unproven allegations frequently stir mob violence and lynchings.

Eleven members of the sect were murdered for their faith in 2014 and authorities failed to apprehend any of the killers, a report said in April, highlighting growing intolerance toward the community.