Pakistani Police admit ‘failure’ led to Gojra violence

(Aug.05,2010) In Pakistan, police have apologized to Catholics for their failure to prevent anti-Christian violence in the Punjabi city of Gojra last year, in which, 10 people were killed, said Bishop Joseph Coutts of Faisalabad. The prelate told the Catholic charity “Aid to the Church in Need” - ACN, that after a memorial Mass he celebrated on Aug. 1, the first anniversary of the killings, the Toba Tek Singh district police co-ordinating officer, Amaan Ullah, admitted “that what happened was a failure on the part of the police.” ACN quoted him as saying: “The police had received sufficient reports to indicate that there was something happening in Gojra that could lead to serious violence.”
John Pontifex of ACN told ucanews that the comments come amid claims that police should have imposed a ‘Section 144’ order in Gojra, forbidding gatherings of people within a defined area to eliminate the risk of mob violence.” A judicial inquiry has already found fault with the police handling of the incident, in which one family of seven died, Pontifex said, but this was the first public admission of failure.
Bishop Coutts also told ACN that several senior Muslims, including one Pir or holy man, had told crowds in Gojra that the attacks were un-Islamic. The pir said Islam does not teach that people should be attacked. People who carry out attacks of this kind are not to be considered Muslims and the same applied to those who attack places of worship,” he said .