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| A picture made available yesterday shows people burning furniture of a private school after one of its teachers was accused of blasphemy |
A 250-strong crowd stormed Farooqi Girls’ High School in the eastern city of Lahore late on Wednesday after students told parents about derogatory references to the prophet in an English test.
Police officer Azam Manhais said the school principal Asim Farooqi had been arrested under Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws, which can lead to the death penalty, and a search was under way for the teacher who prepared the question paper.
Furniture and the principal’s car were set ablaze in the attack and the school, which was opened in 1978 and has a good reputation, remained closed yesterday.
Tahir Ikram, a police official, said 250 people including parents, residents and young boys were involved in the attack and officers have registered a case against this “unknown group of people” for ransacking the school.
Multan Khan, a senior police official, confirmed the incident and said police had opened a blasphemy case against the teacher, Arfa Iftikhar, and the principal.
Blasphemy is a highly sensitive issue in Pakistan, where 97% of the population are Muslims, and allegations of insulting Islam or the Prophet Muhammad can prompt violent outbursts of public anger.
The laws came under the international spotlight in August when 14-year-old Christian girl Rimsha Masih was held for three weeks in a high security prison for allegedly burning pages from the Holy Qur’an.
Activists have called for the laws to be changed, saying they are often abused to settle personal scores. Ikram said it was still unclear what had happened in the Lahore school case.
“We cannot say at the moment whether this was a real act of blasphemy or a conspiracy,” he said, adding that police had tried to raid the teacher’s house but found it locked.
“At the moment we can not say something solid unless we arrest and interrogate the teacher.”
Police have also registered a case against unknown people on charges of arson. No arrests have yet been made.
Local news outlets have reported that activists of an outlawed Islamist group, Jamat ud-Dawah, and a students’ wing of a religious party were among the agitators, but police officials did not confirm it.
At least one person was reported injured when the protesters clashed with riot police deployed around the school in anticipation of a mob attack. The protesters torched the building after outnumbering law enforcers and prevented firefighters from putting out the flames.