Jaranwala incident has put as all to shame: Ashrafi

ISLAMABAD: Head of the All Pakistan Ulema Council Tahir Ashrafi has strongly denounced the Jaranwala incident, asserting that the deplorable occurrence has cast a somber shadow over the entire nation.

Appearing on the HUM News morning show Subah Se Aagay on Friday Ashrafi paid tribute to caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab Mohsin Raza Naqvi, calling him a “responsible person” who had “controlled” the Jaranwala incident.

“An attempt was made to do the same in Sargodha but the administration controlled it,” Ashrafi asserted.

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He went on to reiterate that the situation in Jaranwala was now “under control.” He also expressed a desire to see the perpetrators swiftly brought to justice in order to prevent such incidents from happening in future.

Ashrafi stated that “everyone is ashamed,” and that “the heart is saddened” by the incident.

“Such incidents have nothing to do with Islam,” the cleric professed, adding that it had been an “attempt to damage Pakistan’s identity.”

Meanwhile, the Punjab government ordered the formation of a high-level inquiry committee to investigate the incident, in line with directives issued by Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq.

Separately, in a statement, Punjab police said it had made over 100 arrests while the Jaranwala police booked over 600 people in two terror cases.