Lahore, Pakistan - The police on Friday arranged an agreement between the Muslims and Christians of Gowindh village in which the followers of both religions have been told to respect each other and follow the Loudspeaker and Sound Amplifier Ordinance of 1964.
The agreement also ended the Christian community’s social boycott by Muslims. In the agreement, the Muslims have apologised to the Christians for desecrating the church and hurting their religious sentiments.
Muslim villagers had boycotted the Christians after a mob of Muslims attacked the village’s only church. Muslim villagers said they had been asking the Christians for months not to use the church’s loudspeaker for the morning service, which was held at the same time as Fajr prayers (morning prayers). However, they said, the Christian community did not pay heed. On October 10, a Muslim mob forced into the church, shouted slogans against the Christians, cut the loudspeaker’s wire and put manure on the church walls.
The superintendent of police sent Supervisory Police Officer (SPO) Athar Ismail to the village to reconcile between the two communities soon after the incident. The villagers signed the agreement under the supervision of the SPO and senior police officers including the Hadiyara Police station house officer.
Ismail told Daily Times that the police had organised a peaceful gathering of representative of both communities. He said that the police had found in the inquiry that the Muslims had desecrated the church. He said Haji Yasin and Molvi Rasheed were the two main people behind the incident. He said he had warned them against disturbing peace in the village again. He said he had also told the Muslims against misusing loudspeakers.
The SPO said that 100 Muslims had participated in the meeting. He said they submitted a written apology to the Christians. He said he had told the Muslims that being the majority, it was their duty to safeguard the rights of the minority. He added that he had asked the Hadiyara SHO to visit the village frequently.
Peter Gill, a former member of the Punjab Assembly (MPA) from the village, also confirmed that the two communities had reached an agreement.
Gowindh is a village on the India-Pakistan border in the Hadiyara police precinct. The village has a population of around 10,000 with only 25 Christian families. There are eight mosques and only one church at the village.