Pakistan's newly-appointed caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Friday asserted that his government will not side with "forces of darkness', days after several churches and houses of Christian community members were vandalised in the Punjab province over blasphemy claims.
During the first meeting of his interim Cabinet today, Kakar said, "The minorities will stay protected in this country. There may be an attempt to harm them from a section of marginalised and peripheral group of people, but that would be responded sternly and strictly."
Kakar further stated that the Pakistani state and society does not align with violent elements and that the sustenance of religious minority communities, Geo News reported. "They may be from us but they are divorced from us, they are divorced from our identity process. We do not stand for the forces of darkness," he said.
Despite Kakar's assurances, Pakistan's rigorous blasphemy laws have come under intense international scrutiny, which has targeted several minority communities of the country, particularly Hindus and Christians. The blasphemy law often provokes people to take matters into their own hands that have claimed the lives of many.
The latest flare-up occurred on Tuesday when several churches, along with the house of a Christian cleaner, were vandalised and set ablaze in the Jaranwala town of Faisalabad district by an angry mob over claims of 'desecrating the Holy Quran'. Over 130 people has been arrested in connection with the incident.
On the orders of the newly-appointed caretaker PM, the provinicial government of Punjab has issued directions to form a high-level inquiry committee to probe the incident, Dawn reported.
Kakar on Friday also referred to the violent riots on May 9 by members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) after the arrest of party chairman and former PM Imran Khan. The interim PM said that he was disappointed by the actions of the mob and should be dealt in accordance with the law.
""We not just condemn it, now we are in the role to ensure that justice is being done and whosoever violated the laws on those days will be treated by those laws. There won’t be any favour, there won’t be any fear. We will try to implement with justice and neutrality," he added.
Kakar forms 24-member interim cabinet
Meanwhile, Kakar constituted a 24-member interim federal Cabinet that comprises of 16 ministers, five special assistants to the PM and three advisers. The Cabinet includes imprisoned terrorist Yasin Malik's wife Mushaal Hussein Malik has been appointed as the Special Advisor to the PM on Human Rights and Women Empowerment.
The 57-year-old Yasin Malik has been charged with terror funding in 2017 and arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2019. He was sentenced to life imprisonment last year.
Yasin Malik is accused of kidnapping former Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's daughter Rubaiya Sayeed in exchange for the release of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Ghulam Nabi Butt. He is also accused of killing Indian Air Force officers in 1990.
Kakar's interim Cabinet is believed to be more empowered than previous caretaker regimes, as their tenure will last longer following a delay in the upcoming general election earlier scheduled for November. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has set up a schedule of new delimitations to be carried out after the approval of the new census by the Council of Common Interest.
