Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday cracked down on police inaction and directed the law enforcing agency to fix responsibility of criminal negligence by carrying out a fair and neutral investigation into the Rawalpindi sectarian clashes last Friday.
While chairing a high-level meeting on law and order, Mr. Sharif took strong exception to the role of police in the incident and said it should have taken preemptive action, according to an official statement.
Inspector General of Punjab Police Khan Baig admitted the failure of local police authorities. Eleven persons died and 56 were injured, he said, adding that all the deaths were caused by fire arms. Despite unofficial claims that the death toll was much higher than eleven and many children from the madrassa which was targeted were missing, he refuted such claims.
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Mr. Baig said nine persons were arrested after they were identified from video footage obtained from media organisations.
Mr. Sharif, who was away on tour during the incident, expressed displeasure over the "criminal" inaction and laxity of the police. “Law-enforcement authorities must not show any laxity in dealing with such incidents. Speech inciting hatred, stone throwing and firing are unacceptable crimes,” he was quoted as saying in the statement.
He also said that the “criminal silence” on the part of the administration and police while provocative speeches were made through loud speakers would not be tolerated. He took note of the negative role played by the social media during the incident and directed the concerned authorities to present a draft Cyber Law to curb this.
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