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Thursday March 28, 2024

Clerics warn of drive over lawlessness

By Asim Hussain
September 11, 2020

LAHORE:Religious leaders have strongly condemned the dacoity and gang rape of a woman on motorway, terming it a reflection of PTI government’s bad governance and inability to control law and order in the country.

They recalled that the government had refrained from legislating death punishment for rapists and instead enacted laws to award them sentences only, which resulted in a surge in rapes of minor girls, children and women.

They expressed sorrow that the government was busy transferring and posting blue eyed police officials, ignoring their criminal record and tainted careers, while the criminals were roaming free in the country, robbing, looting and raping the innocent helpless citizens. The religious leaders warned of launching anti-government movement if the rulers did not arrest the lawlessness and put to task the negligent and delinquent police officers.

Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Senator Sirajul Haq expressed severe anger and shock over the horrific incident of gang rape of a woman after robbing her of her valuables on Lahore motorways entry point, demanding the authorities arrest the culprits involved in the heinous crime within 48 hours.

In a statement from Mansoora on Thursday, he warned that if the culprits were not arrested within 48 hours, the JI would chalk out future strategy on the issue. He said the JI workers would take to the streets for the protection of the honour and lives of the masses if the law and order agencies failed to nab the criminals in two days.

Quoting the official data, he said over 10,000 cases of rape, gang-rape and kidnapping and abduction were registered only in Punjab from Jan 2020 to September 2020. The figures, he said, showed the horrifying situation of law and order in the biggest province of the country. The daily basis transfers and postings in addition to the already tainted image of police badly damaged the already fragile performance of the force, he said, calling for bringing reforms in the overall structure of the police. He said a law of jungle prevailed in the country and a common citizen was not feeling protected.

Jamiat Ahle Hadith President Senator Prof Sajid Mir said the incompetent PTI government was busy transferring and posting the police officials for political purposes and had completely ignored the criminal records and tainted service history of the blue-eyed police officials only to victimise the political opponents and to do pre-poll rigging ahead of the local government elections.

He said the secular lobbies and so-called human rights groups had always opposed death punishments for rapists, causing an upsurge of heinous crimes against minor girls and women. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan had gone back on all his promises to purge the police and administration of political influences, and instead, fully indulged in postings and transfers of policemen on the basis of political affiliations.

Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) President Allama Zubair Ahmad Zaheer has also termed the increasing cases of rapes and gang-rapes a result of leniency by the law towards the culprits, especially letting them go with a few years sentences instead of death punishments which would have strongly deterred the tendency of offences. He said the PTI government had completely failed in establishing law and order in the country as it was busy appointing politically-motivated police officials at key posts in order to control and victimise the political opponents.