ISLAMABAD: PM’s Special Assistant on Religious Harmony Tahir Ashrafi on Monday condemned the killing of a pastor in Peshawar a day earlier, saying that Prime Minister Imran Khan was personally monitoring the case.
The special assistant made these remarks while speaking to journalists at Peshawar’s Saint John’s Church where he had gone to offer his condolences.
On Sunday, unidentified motorcyclists shot Pastor William Siraj dead and injured one of his companions, Naeem Patrick, in Peshawar, sparking protests from the city’s religious minority community.
Siraj’s last rites were performed today (Monday) at Peshawar’s All Saints’ Church, following which he was laid to rest. Additional policemen were deployed around the church where the priest’s memorial service was attended by more than 3,000 mourners.
Taking to media today, Ashrafi said the purpose behind his visit to Saint John’s Church was to sit together and resolve matters. “Anti-Pakistan elements aim to spread fear in the country”, he said, adding that the attack on the priest was tantamount to an attack on the entire country.
“Recent attacks are a conspiracy to fuel religious, sectarian differences,” he said, adding that “the attack on the Christian community had failed to reduce morale” and expressed solidarity with the Christian community.
Earlier, Ashrafi and other religious scholars from different schools of thought prayed inside a church of Peshawar in a show of solidarity with the Christian community and Pastor William Siraj.
The incident
Siraj was a Kohati gate-resident, a retired schoolteacher and a pasotr at a church in the Chamkani area.
According to the police, he and Patrick were making their way back after Sunday service when the Suzuki Bolan van they were travelling in was shot at near Madina Market. A third passenger, identified as Inayat, remained unhurt.
Gulbahar police said that a search operation had been launched in the area to arrest the attackers and a murder case had been registered against unidentified assailants.
Following the incident, several members of the Christian community, including Bishop of the Diocese of Peshawar Humphrey Sarfaraz Peter, provincial minister Kamran Bangash and police chief Moazzam Jah Ansari had visited the Chamkani church to condole with the victims’ families.
