No room for extremism, religious animosity in Pakistan: Minister

JARANWALA: Condemning the Jaranwala incident, Caretaker Minister for National Heritage and Culture Dr Jamal Shah on Sunday asserted that extremism and religious animosity will not be tolerated at any cost in Pakistan, ARY News reported.

Talking to journalists in Jaranwala, the caretaker minister said Islam doesn’t permit any kind of discrimination and violence against any other religion and beliefs.

He said that Islam teaches the lesson of peace, love and respect for others. He also lauded the efforts of Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi and his team for the speedy rehabilitation work on damaged worship places and houses.

The Minister said it is our religious, national as well and moral obligation to protect rights of minorities in the country.

Earlier, a mob attacked, vandalized multiple churches and torched homes belonging to the Christian community in Jaranwala, Faisalabad over blasphemy allegations.

The Jaranwala police registered terror cases against more than 600 people for “vandalizing multiple churches and torching homes belonging to the Christian community”.

It is pertinent to mention here that 10 Joint Investigation Teams (JIT) were constituted to probe Jaranwala incident. The JIT constituted for the investigation includes CTD, police, and CIA police officers.

Furthermore, the JIT teams will conduct investigations separately in cases related to the Jaranwala incidents.