PA unanimously condemns Gojra violence

* Minority MPAs criticise government over poor response to tragedy

Staff Report

LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly (PA) has unanimously passed a resolution condemning the attack on Christian families in Gojra amidst criticism by minority members over the poor handling of the situation by the Punjab government.

The PA passed this resolution on Tuesday and demanded stern action against the perpetrators of violence.

Presenting the motion in the House, Michael said, “The House condemns the incidents that occurred in Koriyan village on July 30 and in Christian Colony, Gojra on August 1 and expresses complete solidarity with the relatives of innocent people who lost their lives. The House expresses complete solidarity with the Christian community in Pakistan and assures that minorities will be given complete protection.” After the resolution was passed, opposition MPA Mohsin Khan Leghari, on a point of order, asked Law Minister Rana Sanaullah to inform the House about the findings of the commission set up for judicial inquiry into the killings. Sanaullah said the committee had completed its work, however, he could not inform the House about the findings before discussing the issue with Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif.

Poor response: Minority MPAs were not satisfied despite the resolution being passed. MPA Pervaiz Rafique expressed complete dissatisfaction over the poor response of the government to the violence in Gojra. He said the killings had been portrayed as a ‘dispute’, but was actually an attack on minorities. He said the people who were involved in the attack had not been arrested so far.

(Daily Times, October 21, 2009)