In Lahore workers kill factory owner accused of blasphemy
(August 7, 2009) A factory owner and two other men were killed when workers from
his plant attacked them along the Muridke-Sheikhupura Road, not far from Lahore, for
allegedly desecrating the holy Qur’an, a private TV channel reported on Tuesday. However,
another TV station said the owner, identified only as Najeebullah, and the two other
men were killed over the factory administration’s failure to pay workers. The incident
began when a worker came into the factory at around 2 pm and saw that the owner had
taken down an old calendar, which had verses from the holy Qur’an written on it, and
put it on a table. The worker accused the owner for what he thought was “desecration”
of the holy Qur‘an. When a guard tried to stop him, he ran out into the working area
and started gathering his colleagues, claiming the owner had committed ‘blasphemy’.
When the group of workers surrounded Najeebullah, his guard tried to protect him by
firing in the air, but this further enraged the crowd; shots were fired killing the
owner and his guard. In their rage workers attacked the factory administration, beat
up several employees and set the plant on fire. Police rushed to the site to bring
the situation under control, but the angry mob turned on them and seized their weapons.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani visited the Punjabi town on Thursday to
express solidarity with the Christian community and reiterated his condemnation of
the outrage which is currently under investigation.