Muslims in Pakistan rally behind violence-stuck Hindus

Karachi, Sep 16 (IANS) Muslims in Pakistan on Monday took out a peace march to condemn Sunday's anti-Hindu violence in Ghotki town in Sindh province.

Ghotki town and its surrounding areas in Pakistan on Sunday witnessed violence against Hindus after a Hindu school principal allegedly made some objectionable remarks against Prophet Muhammad, according to media reports.

Hundreds of angry men took to the streets there after Notan Lal, a Hindu and principal of the Sindh Public School, was accused of passing "blasphemous remarks" by a student.

Later, it turned out that the blasphemy complaint was cooked up.

The student, Mohammed Ihtisham, on whose complaint his father filed a First Information Report police complaint against the principal of Sindh Public School, has said in a social media post that he was very angry with the principal as he was scolded for not memorising his lesson. He said that he had no idea that the issue would blow up to such a proportion. He asked "Sir Notan" for forgiveness, in the social media post.

A mob damaged Hindu religious places, properties and houses. But the authorities could not act promptly to control the situation.

Meanwhile, amid the violence, many Muslims had spent the night in the vandalised Sacho Satram Das temple premises in a show of support to the Hindus.

Several social activists and political leaders also visited the temple and assured providing it security.

Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam (Fazal) took out a peace rally here and appealed to the people to maintain communal harmony.

The march was led by Maulana Rashid Sumro, who urged the supporters not to take law into their own hands.

Some ministers of Sindh government also visited Ghotki and met the members of Hindu community. They said the government would repair the temple damaged in the violence.

Social media users also expressed disgust over anti-Hindu violence.

The netizens have demanded immediate arrest of Mian Mitthu, infamous for his role in abduction of girls belonging to Hindu and other minority communities and converting them to Islam.

Twitterati in Pakistan are demanding his arrest, with #MianMitthu trending on Twitter. Mona Alam, a Twitter user, wrote: "Save our minorities, put him (Mitthu) in jail."

Though Mittu has denied having any role in Sunday's violence, videos that surfaced in the internet prove his claims wrong.