Armed miscreants from Jhang behind Gojra Christian riots

Islamabad, Aug 3 (ANI): A group of armed miscreants, with masked faces had come from Jhang and led the violence against Christians in Gojra on the pretext of desecration of the Quran.

The sources said a mob went on rampage after some youths had delivered provocative speeches and set on fire some houses and places of worship.

"The minority minister has been asked to work closely with the provincial government and expose the people responsible for the tragic incident," they added.

The sources said the government believed that the incident had been planned to trigger riots between Christians and Muslims and the government was not ruling out involvement of an external hand.

The Pakistan Government on Sunday asked Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti to work in coordination with the Government of Punjab to unmask the elements behind the Gojra violence.

President Asif Ali Zardari has also asked Bhatti to proceed to Gojra and stay there till the situation calms down and affected people return to their homes, the Dawn reported.

President's spokesman Farhatullah Babar said that the president had taken a serious notice of the Gojra incident and was concerned about the violence as well as the wrong signals it had sent about the country and its people to the international community.

Recently in Kasur, houses of Christians had been torched and the latest incident has forced the government to handle the situation with firmness.

Zardari said in a statement that under no circumstances could anyone be allowed to take law into his hand to settle real or perceived grievances. (ANI)