Shahi Imam requests for peace following Phagwara incident

LUDHIANA: Shahi Imam of Punjab Maulana Habib Ur Rehman Saani Ludhianvi Phagwara has strongly condemned the attack on worshipers after the Friday prayers and called it shameful. He urged people to maintain peace and harmony and not pay attention to rumors.
In a statement here, Shahi Imam said that the Punjab government and police authorities in the state, including administration in Phagwara has failed miserably to control the situation.He added that for many months, some mischievous elements were hell bent to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in the state and were threatening minorities in the state.
Shahi Imam said that despite several provocations, the administration acted as a bystander. He advised that chief minister Parkash Singh Badal should take charge of law and order himself and and stop this hooliganism in the name of religion. Head priest of Punjab said that by standing with the Muslim community after being attacked by Right Wing elements, Sikh and Dalit communities have once again set an example of brotherhood which needs to be appreciated.
Imam said that by targeting minorities in the state, few people are trying to burnish their politics and administration which is giving such miscreants opportunities to attack minorities. He added that a delegation of Muslims community will soon meet chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on the issue.
Replying to a question, Imam said that even as Phagwara police knew that this is a delicate situation prevailing in the city, but surprisingly strict security arrangements were not taken which is evident from the fact that the miscreants who were headed towards the mosque were not stopped. Shahi Imam of Punjab demanded that government should take action against Phagwara SP and DSP for negligence. He said that events in Phagwara has brought bad name to Punjab. On this occasion, Qari Altaf-ur-Rehman Ludhianvi, Muhammad Mustkim Ahrari, Qari Muhammad Ibrahim, Muhammad Khalid Ahrar, Nawab Ali, Sarfraz Khan, Anju dragon, Tanvir Rehmat, Dr Islam, Parvez Alam, Sheikh Ashraf, Shakir Alam, Muhammad Idrees were also present.