Pakistan: Police resort to tear gas shelling after angry mob creates unrest over alleged desecration of Quran

Hyderabad [Pakistan], August 22 : Law enforcement agencies resorted to tear gas shelling and fired into the air in different areas of Hyderabad on Sunday after an enraged mob tried to get hold of a sanitary worker, belonging to the Hindu minority community booked in a fake case of blasphemy.
During this, a policeman was assaulted while a police mobile was damaged by the mob, the Dawn reported.
Enraged crowds forced their way into a business centre by breaking windowpanes to get hold of the man they accused of desecrating the Quran.
The trouble started when news about the alleged sacrilege spread like wildlife across the city. All business and commercial centres were shut immediately. Enraged youth gathered outside the plaza.
The number of furious protesters kept increasing and by 5 pm they were in the thousands, blocking streets leading to the plaza. Six or seven demonstrators managed to enter the plaza through a mezzanine office by breaking windowpanes and using a ladder.
As the mob refused to disperse, police decided to disperse the crowd by resorting to tear gas shelling. This forced the protesters to flee the area, but they re-emerged after a few minutes, the Dawn reported.
Hyderabad police on Sunday picked up a sanitary worker. A case was registered against him under sections 295-B and 34 of PPC on the complaint of Bilal, son of Bundo Khan Abbasi.
The man was identified as Ashok Kumar who was a sweeper, lodged at Rabia centre in Saddar of Hyderabad in Pakistan and was severely attacked by a violent mob.
The complainant claimed he had learnt that someone had burnt pages of the Quran in Rabi Plaza. He went inside and learnt that someone had burnt the Quran. Soon, he said, eight to 10 persons entered the plaza. Bilal claimed that Maulana Amin Zikriya showed him burnt pages near an elevator. He asked a sanitary worker whether he knew the identity of the man who had done this, but he remained silent.
Bilal claimed that Maulana Amin Zikriya showed him burnt pages near an elevator. He asked a sanitary worker whether he knew the identity of the man who had done this, but he remained silent.
According to Bilal, he got hold of a sanitary worker and took possession of some of the burnt pages. He then handed over the man, along with the burnt pages, to the police, the Dawn reported.
A journalist of Dawn Mubashir Zaidi, in a Tweet, said, "Hyderabad police dispersed a violent mob which was demanding handing over a Hindu sanitary worker accusing him of #blasphemy Police claims the sanitary worker was targeted because of a personal clash with a local resident."
Taking to Twitter, another journalist, Naila Inayat tweeted, "Hindu sanitary worker Ashok Kumar booked under 295B of blasphemy over alleged desecration of the Quran in Hyderabad. The allegation came after a brawl with shopkeeper Bilal Abbasi who then lodged the complaint against Kumar."
Hyderabad police dispersed the agitated mob which was demanding handing over of the Hindu sanitary worker for desecration of the Quran. However, it was actually a Muslim woman who had burned the Islamist book, as per local media.
The misuse of the draconian blasphemy laws against minorities and even members of the Muslim community to settle personal grudges is rampant in Pakistan.
Notably, Pakistan reported a total of 1,415 cases of blasphemy in the country since 1947, a think tank, the Centre for Research and Security Studies, said.
According to the think tank report, a total of 18 women and 71 men were extra-judicially killed over blasphemy from 1947 to 2021. However, as per the think tank, the actual number of cases is believed to be higher as not all cases are reported.