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Gojra riots inquiry panel demands immediate changes in blasphemy laws to protect minorities | An inquiry panel into Pakistan's Gojra riots has proposed
amendments to the country's existing blasphemy laws in order to avoid such incidents in future. Nine people- including four women and a child -were killed in anti-Christian
riots in Gojra in August. Christian homes were burnt after unsubstantiated accusations
surfaced that some of them had desecrated the holy Quran. Lahore High Court Judge
Iqbal Hameedur Rehman, who is heading the inquiry panel, warned the Pakistan government
that "the Gojra tragedy must be taken seriously and the needful should be done
on a war-footing without further loss of time". The violent protests in Gojra
triggered ethnic tensions and resulted in the displacement of 96 Christian families.
The panel noted that such riots have "disfigured our national image all over the
world. We cannot afford any other menace, [such as] sectarian disputes". The 258-page
report recommends action "without any discrimination against those responsible
for commission and omission". The report also proposes amendments to Pakistan
Penal Code sections 295, 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 296, 297, 298, 298-A, 298-B, 298-C,
anti-blasphemy laws, relevant provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code and the
Police Order 2002. It recommends that federal intelligence agencies be mandated
to provide "first-hand information at the divisional level". According to the
tribunal, the riots were a result of the "inability of law-enforcement agencies
to assess the gravity of the situation, inadequate precautionary and preventive
measures taken by law-enforcement agencies, the failure of intelligence agencies
in providing prompt and correct information, a defective security plan, the irresponsible
behaviour of the administration." |
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