Business activities in the district came to a complete halt. Groups of people held demonstrations to condemn the incident. Activists of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz, lead by its leader Mumtaz Shaikh, took out a peace rally.
Officials of the district and divisional administrations, on the directives of Bilawal-Bhutto, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and the inspector general of police, held meetings with members of the Hindu Panchayat and Ulema and leaders of different religious parties to defuse the situation.
Larkana Commissioner Dr Saeed Ahmed Mangnejo, DIG Khadim Hussain Rind and Deputy Commissioner Ghanwar Khan Leghari claimed that the issue had been amicably resolved after long deliberations between religious leaders and members of the Panchayat.
Abdul Ghaffar Mitha Khan, a representative of Ulema, condemned the burning of Dharamshala and damaging of statues and termed it a conspiracy to disturb peace in the district. He extended Holy greetings to the Hindu community and appealed to traders to open their businesses.
Dr Dharampal, vice-chairman of the Hindu Panchayat, said the people who attacked the temple and the individual allegedly involved in desecrating pages of Holy Quran should be dealt with in accordance with the law.
He called for an impartial investigation into the incident which he said was aimed at creating a gulf between Muslims and Hindus who were living in the city peacefully.
MNAs Ayaz Soomro and Ramesh Lal, the commissioner, deputy commissioner, DIG and SSP praised the positive role played by religious leaders and Panchayat members and the media in resolving the issue.
They assured the Ulema and Hindu leaders that the investigation would be transparent and anyone found guilty would be brought to book.
They later visited the Dharamshala. Panchayat office-bearers Kalpina Devi, Dr Dharampal and others thanked the district and divisional administrations for their timely intervention and efforts made by them to prevent the situation from worsening.
