Four including Dr Sarfraz martyred in Lahore blast
12 June, 2009
LAHORE: Renowned religious scholar and a strong supporter of sectarian unity Dr Sarfraz Hussain Naeemi was martyred, along with five others, when a 17-year-old youth blew himself up at his office in Jamia Naeemia, on the Allama Iqbal Road in Garhi Shahu area of Lahore, soon after the Friday prayers.
Seven other people received injuries in the attack on Maulana Naeemi, who was also the principal of Madrassa Jamia Naeemia. Circumstantial evidence and eyewitnesses’ accounts suggest that the incident took place due to security lapses, as an unidentified suicide attacker managed to enter the premises of Jamia Naeemia unnoticed and approached Dr Sarfraz Naeemi at his office.
The police sources also confirmed to our sources lapses in providing security cover to the respected cleric. Police sources, requesting anonymity, disclosed that one ASI and 10 constables were sent to Jamia Naeemia every Friday to provide security cover to the worshippers. However, this Friday only two constables of the Muhafiz Force had been deployed there.
But, according to sources, the police later wrote a fake report in the Roznamcha (official diary) of the Police Chowki Bibi Pak Daman, showing the strength of three more officials on the spot. According to the Roznamcha, one sub-inspector, an ASI and a constable were also present at the Jamia Naeemia for security purposes. The deployment of two Muhafiz Squad men was shown in the Roznamcha of Qila Gujjar Singh police station, the sources added.
Another police source said that no walkthrough gate was installed at the main entrance, while strict security, particularly after threats were received by Dr Sarfraz Naeemi on declaring suicide attacks Haram, had been inevitable. A place where hundreds of students get education and a scholar of such a calibre resides required outstanding security measures, a police official added.
Dr Naeemi was one of those moderate clerics who strongly believed in maintaining sectarian unity to counter the growing terrorism, and was among those clerics who had issued the edict declaring suicide attacks against the Muslims and civilians Haram. Of late, he had been a critic of the sectarian violence, being committed in the name of the Taliban. He was the driving spirit of the Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat Mahaz (TNRM), a group of over 20 Sunni parties raising voice against the violence committed by the Taliban against the people of rival sects.
Dr Sarfraz had been receiving threatening calls for the past many days and ironically no security was provided to him as well as the place where he lived. Colleagues and noted Sunni leaders believed that targeting of a moderate scholar like Dr Naeemi was aimed at fuelling sectarian strife in the country.
The incident took place 15 minutes after the Juma prayers at around 2:45 pm when the Mufti had left the mosque for his office, situated adjacent to the Madrassa. The worshippers were also leaving the mosque when the suicide attacker managed to dodge the cosmetic security measures and blew himself up at the office of the Mufti.
A big bang at the office of the Mufti attracted the outsiders, who rushed to the scene and discovered Dr Sarfraz Naeemi and 10 others lying in a pool of blood with multiple wounds. They were shifted to different local hospitals.
The explosion smashed windowpanes and destroyed bookshelves and furniture at Dr Sarfraz Naeemi’s office. Four victims were shifted to the emergency ward of Mayo Hospital and only one of them could survive. Three victims of the blast expired in emergency ward, taking the total death toll to six as three bodies were directly shifted to the mortuary. Hafiz Muhammad Akmal, 30, a resident of Shah Alam Road, Badami Bagh, and Ismail, 30, a resident of Jamia Naeemia, expired in the operation theatre. The third victim, Rehman, was received dead in the emergency ward. The lone survivor of the blast was Khalil Ahmad, 66, a resident of Green Town, who had a fractured leg and was shifted to the Orthopaedic-II Ward after emergency treatment. Three bodies, which were directly received at the dead house, included Mufti Sarfraz Naeemi, Rashid and an unidentified person, whose head was available only. Besides, two injured related to the Garhi Shahu blast were shifted to the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
Muhammad Majeed, 60, a resident of Garhi Shahu, had an open fracture, while Muhammad Nawaz, 24, a resident of students’ hostel of Jamia Naeemia, had a cut injury on the left side of neck. They were being provided necessary medical and surgical treatment.
After the bodies and injured were brought to hospitals, their relatives and other public started gathering there. Talking to media persons, MNA Mian Marghoob Ahmed of the Pakistan Muslim League-N said there was certainly a security lapse that resulted in the tragedy.
According to the Jamia administration, only two policemen were deployed outside the Madrassa for frisking the visitors coming for the Juma prayers. Both the policemen left the place right after the Juma prayers, providing the attacker an opportunity to enter the premises unchecked, alleged the administration.
Bomb Disposal Squad, Edhi ambulances, Rescue 1122, fire brigade and the police reached the scene for rescue operation. Forensic experts collected evidences from the spot and recovered the mutilated body of the suicide attacker. An expert said the identity of the attacker was possible through his partially damaged head and face. It seemed that he hailed from the southern Punjab.
Large contingents of police cordoned off the area and banned the entry to the mosque by erecting barbed wires and locked the main entrance of the Madrassa. Rangers were also called in to meet any untoward incident there. An armoured vehicle was also sent to the scene to face the expected violent reaction of the followers of Dr Sarfraz Naeemi.
A follower of Dr Naeemi said now the law-enforcement agencies had come to impose curfew around the Madrassa when they had lost their great leader.Meanwhile, the ban on entry into the Madrassa infuriated the angry mob outside, who then forced their entry into the premises. The protesters carrying clubs started beating the policemen deployed at the main entrance and outside the office of Dr Naeemi. Brief but aggressive reaction forced the policemen to leave their positions.
All roads — Garhi Shahu Road and GT Road — leading towards the main Allama Iqbal Road were blocked with barricades. Traffic wardens, instead of diverting and regulating the traffic on to other routes, were seen more interested in watching the developments going on around them.
News of Dr Sarfraz Naeemi’s killing spread in the provincial metropolis like a wild fire, as hundreds of followers and common citizens rushed to the spot and condemned the irreparable loss of the renowned cleric. A large number of protesters blocked the road and burnt tyres in protest besides chanting slogans against the killing.
Locals living around the Madrassa and in adjacent localities got panicky as they heard the explosion. They came out of their residences and offices to get information regarding the explosion. Women and children also rushed to the spot to inquire about their dear ones.
Sensing a strong reaction, police officers stayed there only for a short while. The officers who visited the scene included Additional IG CID Malik Iqbal, CCPO Lahore Pervez Rathore, SSP CID Aftab Cheema, SSP Operations Ch Shafiq and others.
A technician of the Bomb Disposal Squad said the attacker was carrying explosives weighing 2 kg in a jacket. The explosive material also contained ball bearings and shrapnel and the material was made indigenously. The same jackets had already been used in the Police Training School Manawan and the Rescue 15 building attacks.
Talking to media persons, Inspector General of Police, Punjab, Tariq Saleem Dogar, said Maulana Sarfraz Naeemi was martyred in target killing. He termed the incident unfortunate and said late Maulana Naeemi had not contacted him/police for security.
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