Pakistan Court Jails Three For Vandalising Gurdwara Nankana Sahib

Lahore:

Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Tuesday sentenced as much as two years imprisonment to a few convicts concerned in vandalizing Gurdwara Nankana Sahib within the nation’s Punjab province.

Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, often known as Gurdwara Janam Asthan, is a website close to Lahore the place the primary Guru of Sikhs, Guru Nanak, was born.

In January 2020, a violent mob had attacked the Gurdwara and thrown stones and threatened to destroy the minorities worship place (Gurdwara Janamasthan) to construct “Ghulaman-e-Mustafa” shrine there. However, police had managed the scenario.

“On Tuesday a Lahore’s ATC handed down two years jail term to prime accused Imran Chishti and imposed a fine of 10,000 Pakistani Rupees. Two other accused – Muhammad Salman and Muhammad Ahmed – were convicted for six months. However, four other accused were acquitted for want of evidence,” a courtroom official informed PTI.

All the suspects had been current within the courtroom when the sentence was introduced. Strict safety measures had been taken to deal with any protest by the spiritual components within the wake of their conviction.

Imran Chishti, a authorities worker working within the Fisheries Department, and different suspects had been arrested below terrorism and blasphemy costs following the assault on the Gurdwara final yr. They confronted costs below sections 295A, 290, 291, 341,506, 148 and 149 of Pakistan Penal Code and 7-ATA (anti-terrorism act).

According to the FIR, Chishti had incited the mob. He needed to settle his household challenge and created a law-and-order scenario within the Nankana metropolis. Police stated Chishti had intentionally misled the realm’s Muslim individuals towards the Sikhs for his “family matter”.

Convict Chishti is the elder brother Mohammad Hassan who married a teenage Sikh lady, Jagjit Kaur, in September, 2020 after allegedly abducting and changing her to Islam. The Muslims and Sikhs of Nankana Sahib, some 80kms from Lahore, had a face-off over the matter.

Chishti had claimed that his brother has been overwhelmed up by police for “lawfully and consensually” marrying the daughter of the gurdwara’s granthi.

Jagjit Kaur has been residing in Darul Aman (authorities shelter home) in Lahore. Her new title is Ayesha. She reportedly has refused to transform again and return to her home.

Mohammad Hassan has been pressured by police and authorities to divorce her.

India had strongly condemned the incident of vandalism on the revered Gurdwara and known as upon the Pakistan authorities to take fast steps to make sure the protection and safety of the Sikh group there.

Hundreds of protesters had additionally thronged the streets close to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi demanding that Islamabad present sufficient safety to Sikh shrines and group members there.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee, the highest physique which manages Sikh shrines in India, had additionally urged the Pakistan authorities to take stringent motion towards the culprits who attacked the gurdwara – one of many holiest websites in Sikhism.