Daily Times

Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed on Thursday took notice of the attack on a Hindu temple by a charged mob in Bhong village of Rahim Yar Khan district, a private TV channel reported on Thursday.

The chief justice showed grave concern over the tragic incident, according to a press release issued by the Supreme Court. He fixed the matter before the court on August 6 (today) at Islamabad, and directed the Punjab chief secretary and inspector general of police to appear for the hearing along with a report.

The chief justice took cognisance of the incident after MNA Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, who is the patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council called on Chief Justice Ahmed at the Supreme Court in Islamabad on Thursday to discuss the issue of the temple attack. Dr Vankwani has also been summoned by the court, the statement added.

The incident took place on Wednesday, when hundreds of people vandalised the Hindu temple in Bhong and blocked the Sukkur-Multan Motorway (M-5) after a nine-year-old Hindu boy, who allegedly urinated in a local seminary, was granted bail by a local court.

Responding to the situation late in the evening, the district administration deployed Rangers in the area after Deputy Commissioner Dr Khuram Shehzad and District Police Officer Asad Sarfraz visited the town. On the complaint of a cleric, Hafiz Ibrahim, of Darul Uloom Arabia Taleemul Quran, the Bhong police had registered a case against the boy (who was not named) under Section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Pakistan Penal Code on July 25.

Sources said some Hindu elders tendered an apology to the seminary administration, saying the suspect was a minor and mentally challenged. But when a lower court granted him bail a few days ago, some people incited the public in the town on Wednesday and got all shops there closed in protest.