Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09LAHORE165
2009-08-10 10:59:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Lahore
Cable title:  

PROSECUTIONS AND PEACE PROMISED IN STRIFE-TORN VILLAGE

Tags:  PHUM PGOV PTER PK 
pdf how-to read a cable
INFO LOG-00 EEB-00 AF-00 AID-00 AMAD-00 INL-00 DOEE-00 
 DS-00 DHSE-00 EUR-00 FBIE-00 VCI-00 H-00 TEDE-00 
 INR-00 IO-00 LAB-01 L-00 MOFM-00 MOF-00 VCIE-00 
 NSAE-00 ISN-00 OIC-00 NIMA-00 PA-00 GIWI-00 PRS-00 
 P-00 SCT-00 ISNE-00 DOHS-00 FMPC-00 SP-00 IRM-00 
 SSO-00 SS-00 STR-00 NCTC-00 ASDS-00 CBP-00 SCRS-00 
 DSCC-00 PRM-00 DRL-00 G-00 NFAT-00 SAS-00 FA-00 
 SRAP-00 SWCI-00 PESU-00 SRMC-00 /001W
 
O R 101059Z AUG 09
FM AMCONSUL LAHORE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4144
INFO CIA WASHDC
AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 
AMEMBASSY KABUL 
AMCONSUL KARACHI 
AMEMBASSY LONDON 
AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 
NSC WASHINGTON DC
AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 
SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL
AMCONSUL LAHORE
C O N F I D E N T I A L LAHORE 000165 


E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/7/2019
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PTER PK
SUBJECT: PROSECUTIONS AND PEACE PROMISED IN STRIFE-TORN VILLAGE

REF: A. LAHORE 158

B. LAHORE 162

CLASSIFIED BY: Matthew Lowe, Acting Principal Officer, Consulate
Lahore, U.S. Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L LAHORE 000165


E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/7/2019
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PTER PK
SUBJECT: PROSECUTIONS AND PEACE PROMISED IN STRIFE-TORN VILLAGE

REF: A. LAHORE 158

B. LAHORE 162

CLASSIFIED BY: Matthew Lowe, Acting Principal Officer, Consulate
Lahore, U.S. Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (C) Summary: While politicians and religious leaders have
sought to establish inter-religious peace in Gojra village after
the August 1 burning of eight Christians, human rights activists
have urged the government to reconsider the blasphemy law, which
sparked the killing of a Muslim businessman in Sheikhupura
August 4. In an August 6 meeting with A/PO, members of the
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan warned that the government
must punish the perpetrators, and suggested modifying the
blasphemy law that allows such incidents to occur. Maulana
Abdul Khabeer Azad, the imam of Lahore's Badshahi Mosque,
related that he spent the week in Gojra encouraging interfaith
reconciliation. He underscored that extremist Brelvi group
Sunni Tehreek first sparked the riot, though an Ahl-e-Hadith
mosque encouraged the violence. End Summary.

- - -
Politicians Promise Compensation
- - -


2. (SBU) The August 1 riot and burning of eight Christians in
Gojra village in Toba Tek Singh district in central Punjab
prompted visits by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Governor
Salman Taseer and Prime Minister Yusuf Gilani during week of
August 3. Shahbaz and Taseer pledged assistance during separate
August 4 trips to the village. Shahbaz promised to rebuild the
approximately 100 houses, and announced a judicial inquiry led
by a Lahore High Court tribunal. During his visit, the Governor
noted that quick action by the provincial administration would
have prevented the deaths. "The white stripe in our national
flag clearly admits the presence of minorities and PPP will
continue its struggle for their fundamental rights," he
reiterated. Prime Minister Yusuf Gilani arrived August 6 and
pledged 100 million rupees compensation.


3. (SBU) The Pakistan Muslim League (PML) President Chaudhry
Shujaat Hussain visited the Christian settlement August 9. He
denied that any desecration took place, and backed PML Member of
the National Assembly (MNA) Akram Maseeh's call to revise the
blasphemy law. Shujaat Hussain also suggested providing two
more seats in the Senate to minorities.

- - -
Maulana Promotes Interfaith Harmony
- - -


4. (C) Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad, the imam of Lahore's
prominent Badshahi Mosque, told Acting Principal Officer August
7 that he spent four days and nights in Gojra to reconcile the
Christian and Muslim communities. During his conversations with
Islamic scholars, bishops and "the masses," Maulana Azad
related, he stressed that Islam respects other faiths and views
the state as the exclusive arbitrator of disputes. He
encouraged the local community to donate blood for the injured
and food and water to the Christian community, he recounted.


5. (C) Maulana Azad detailed that Sunni Tehreek, an extremist
Brelvi organization, triggered the first arson incident that
burned about 40 houses in nearby Khorian town. He cautioned
that he has refrained from accusing Sunni Tehreek publicly
because his Deobandi affiliation might trigger tension between
the two sects. He clarified that the August 1 mob emerged from
an Ahl-e-Hadith mosque, but the masked, armed arsonists seem to
have appeared separately. "We presume they came out of local
houses," he surmised.


6. (C) Maulana Azad acknowledged that abuse of the blasphemy law
has occurred, but warned that withdrawing the law would produce
an increase in blasphemy incidents. But he admitted that the
law has a low threshold for evidence, as illustrated in an
August 5 incident in which workers in Muridke in Sheikhupura
district killed their Muslim employer during a pay dispute and
then told police that he had desecrated the Koran. Maulana Azad
recounted that former President Musharraf had sought to
discourage the registration of false cases by requiring senior
police officers to file First Information Reports (FIRs) that
invoke Article 295. Meanwhile, Maulana Azad briefed, he planned
to return to Gojra August 10 to distribute food and essential
items, and hold "peace conferences" over the following week.

- - -
HRCP Decries Lack of Law Enforcement and Blasphemy Law
- - -


7. (SBU) Mehboob Ahmed Khan of the Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan (HRCP) told A/PO August 6 that a July 30 gathering
featured speakers, including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz
(PML-N) and Tehreek Insaaf politicians, who called for a mob to
gather August 1 to demand the arrest of Talib Singh, the
Christian accused of blasphemy. Despite the announcement on
July 30, he lamented, the police refused to prevent the crowd
from gathering or marching the next day. The August 1 attack,
Khan detailed, appeared professional. "They burned 40 houses
in 30 minutes -- how did they do that?"


8. (SBU) Khan called for the effective prosecution of the
perpetrators, and noted that banned organizations such as
Lashkare-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba had arrived in the village
to provoke unrest. "All of these organizations are banned, but
none of them are taken to task," he complained. He believed
that the community had existed in harmony before "outside
factors disturbed the scene."


9. (SBU) Khan and his HRCP colleagues underlined that the
blasphemy law creates a framework that allows such incidents to
occur. "Every incident is proof that it is easy to use this law
for revenge," he observed. He urged that the government repeal
the law, but suggested that the Interior Minister direct police
to register FIRs on religious grounds only after conducting an
inquiry. He highlighted that the number of blasphemy cases and
the violence associated with such cases has increased in 2009.


10. (SBU) In an August 9 press conference, HRCP Chairperson Asma
Jehangir declared that the Christians in Gojra still felt
threatened by militant groups. Speaking as part of the Joint
Action Committee for Peoples Rights (JAC),she demanded that the
government dismantle extremist groups and take action against
those who use blasphemy allegations to incite violence. The JAC
also called for an early warning mechanism to prevent sectarian
conflicts and monitoring of mosque loudspeakers.

- - -
Comment: Nerves Calm, but Tension Remains
- - -


11. (C) While politicians and religious leaders have rushed to
Gojra, they have done little to correct the legal and societal
foundation that allowed such a horrific incident to take place.
As long as the blasphemy law remains on the books, police must
recognize how to prevent belief-based incidents from spiraling
out of control. Raising the proof required and requiring an
inquiry before the FIR will prevent false allegations from
becoming official charges. The government must also punish the
politicians and leaders who riled the mob in Gojra, and
demonstrate that exploiting interfaith tension is a criminal
offense. But the tension itself must also ease, and the
dialogue and exchange led by Maulana Azad comprises one element
that will help prevent faith-based riots from recurring.


LOWE