Police in Pakistan‘s Sindh province have arrested a Muslim journalist under the blasphemy law for insulting the Hindu god Hanuman. A case has also been registered in this regard in the satellite police station of Mirpurkhas city.
Complainant Ramesh Kumar says that on March 19 he was with his friends when he saw that a local journalist named Aslam Baloch had shared a picture of Lord Shri Hanuman on his Facebook page and WhatsApp group.
Ramesh Kumar has said in his complaint that by sharing this picture of Lord Hanuman, Aslam Baloch has hurt the religious sentiments of him and other Hindus like him. He claimed that by sharing this picture, he tried to spread disharmony between religions and spoil the law and order.
The Satellite Police Station registered a case against Aslam Baloch under sections 295A and 153A of the Pakistan Penal Code.
In his post shared on Facebook and WhatsApp, Aslam Baloch wrote, “Captain Shri Ram Park Wale.” People of the Hindu community of Pakistan had opposed this social media post. At the same time, Sindhi Muslims had also expressed concerns about this.
Provincial Minister for Minority Affairs Gyanchand Israni contacted the Inspector General of Sindh and also spoke to SSP Mirpurkhas. He also issued orders to arrest the journalist immediately. The provincial minister says that no one will be allowed to insult anyone’s religion and such acts will not be tolerated.
He said that the God of Hindus has been insulted due to which the religious sentiments of Hindus have been hurt. The minister says that this work may have been done under some conspiracy to disturb the peace in the state.
At the same time, a video statement of Aslam Baloch has also surfaced in police custody in which he has apologized to the Hindu community. Bloch has claimed that he himself did not post that post, it was shared by someone with him, which he further shared.
