Sialkot incident not to affect Pak-Sri Lanka ties: Qureshi

LAHORE: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Saturday said that Pakistan’s diplomatic relations with Sri Lanka would not be affected due to the Sialkot tragedy.

Addressing a press conference at the Governor’s House here, he said Sri Lanka had appreciated Pakistan's stance and timely action against those involved in lynching of its citizen in Sialkot.

He said the incident was very unfortunate and the government had contacted the affected family. He said that his Sri Lankan counterpart had been contacted and “our diplomatic relations with Sri Lanka have not deteriorated”.

Also, State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib said on Saturday that exemplary punishment would be awarded to the perpetrators of the Sialkot incident to check recurrence of such incidents in future. Talking to the media, he said Pakistan was fighting the case of Namoos-e-Risalat at the international level. He said people should not take the law into their hands and must accept the writ of the state. He said the ghastly incident was reflective of a mindset which must be changed. In a separate message, Mufti Muneebur Rehman, former chairman of Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, said that a very unfortunate incident took place in Sialkot yesterday. He said there was a constitutional and legal system in the country and it was not permissible to take the law into one’s hands.

He said it spreads anarchy and lawlessness in the society and such an incident was not in the interest of the country and the nation.

Patron of the Shia Ulema Board and supreme leader of Tehreek Nifaz-e-Fiqa Jaffaria Agha Syed Hamid Ali Moosavi said the brutal killing of a Sri Lankan manager in Sialkot was an insult to the teachings of Holy Prophet Peace Be Upon Him.

“Stand up against extremism, apologetic attitude towards banned parties is fuelling extremism. The rise of violent extremism is not surprising,” he said in Rawalpindi.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, holding the state responsible for the lynching incident in Sialkot, said, “If the state does not take action against the ones accused of blasphemy then such incidents will happen.”

Taking his outrage to Twitter, the Maulana wrote, “The incident in Sialkot is reprehensible and shameful. There should be a comprehensive investigation.”

“In the past, there have been similar backlash against government-sponsored fugitives accused of blasphemy,” wrote the Maulana.