Sindh: Riots broke out in Pakistan's Sindh province on Sunday after a school principal from the minority Hindu community was booked on charges of alleged blasphemy. Widespread protests erupted in Ghotki district after an FIR was filed against the principal of Sindh Public School on the complaint of Abdul Aziz Rajput, a student's father who claimed that the teacher had committed blasphemy by uttering derogatory remarks against the Prophet of Islam.
Following the riots, protesters demanded the police to arrest the principal, who was identified as Notan Mal. The Ghotki city has been shut down and the Hindu community is under a threat. There were reports that the protesters attacked properties, including the school and vandalised three Hindu temples.
Extremists leader Mian Mithu and his men are allegedly involved in the attack against Hindhus in Ghotki. Trouble was already brewing in the city over blasphemy accusations against a Hindu principal. Videos of stick-wielding protesters were shared on social media in which they were seen vandalising a Hindu temple and damaging the school where the incident took place. Residents of the area demanded that the police arrest the principal, issued a call for a shutter-down strike, and took to the streets in protest.
Following the incident, the activists and journalists took to Twitter to share videos and images of the rioting and appealed to the Sindh government to protect the minority Hindu community.
218 booked for rioting
Meanwhile, police in Sindh province registered three cases against 218 rioters for vandalising properties, including a temple. Widespread protests erupted in Ghotki district on Sunday after an FIR was filed against the principal. Police registered three cases against the rioters who had taken to the streets to protest against the alleged incident of blasphemy, Sukkur additional inspector general (AIG) Jamil Ahmed was quoted as saying. He also said that the protesters vandalised a Hindu temple.
An FIR was filed against 45 people under various sections of the the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for injuring or defiling place of worship, intent to insult the religion of any class, punishment for rioting and unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object. Another FIR was lodged against 150 people for blocking roads.
A third FIR pertaining to rioting and theft was filed against 23 people over reports that protesters had stolen goods from multiple shops in Shahi Bazar. Police have asked the school administration to file a separate complaint against people who damaged the building and infrastructure, so that a fourth FIR can be registered, the reports said.
