Police harass pilgrims and loot valuables in Mariamabad
Lahore (AsiaNews/UCAN) The parish priest who oversees Pakistan's national Marian shrine has launched criminal proceedings against those, including some policemen, who allegedly looted and harassed pilgrims in two separate incidents during this year's annual pilgrimage which started on September 9.
Fr Sylvester Joseph and the executive secretaries of Caritas-Pakistan and the Catholic Bishops' National Commission for Justice and Peace went to the local police station to lodge a formal complaint.
They contend that on September 10 at around 10.30 pm (local time), armed men waiting near the village stopped buses bringing pilgrims to the shrine and robbed the passengers of their valuables. Some of the pilgrims said that policemen on duty had told the bus drivers to take the particular route where the robbery took place.
The following evening, at about the same time, organisers caught 20 men, some wearing police T-shirts, harassing pilgrims and trying to extort money from them.
After determining that the men were cadets from the Farooqabad Police Training School, the organisers handed them, some identity cards and a revolver taken from them to local police.
Irfan Barkat, who handles legal affairs for the Bishops' commission, said the Church was taking legal action against the police and the cadets involved.
"Such behaviour should be discouraged," especially since police "are meant to insure the safety of people," he said. "We would like to safeguard people against harassment and bribing at this annual religious event."
Following the legal action taken by Catholic leaders, an official inquiry was opened on September 15 and a policeman on duty on the night of the robberies was suspended. However, no official charges were brought until September 19.
Mariamabad, "Mary's City", is some 80 km south-east of Islamabad. The pilgrimage to the Marian shrine or Ziriat has been held every year since 1949 around September 8, the day in which the Church celebrates the birth of Mary.
Thousands of Catholic pilgrims take part in the annual event, but so do many Muslims as well as Christians from other countries.
There are about 1.5 million Catholics in Pakistan.
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06/09/2004
25/10/2016 09:57
