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PAF denies harassment allegations by Christians

LAHORE: Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Director of Public Relations Air Commodore Sarfaraz Ahmad Khan denied allegations made by the Secretary General Pakistan Christian National Party (PCNP) M Joseph Francis that many Christians had been roughed up, harassed and removed from their quarters at the PAF Islamabad Colony by PAF officers in retaliation against an FIR lodged by two Christian girls against five Muslim males of the colony.

Khan said there was a brief scuffle between teenagers in the colony, and PAF officers were sent to quell the disturbance. When they entered the quarters, however, the officers found that many individuals had taken up residence illegally. Khan said the officers proceeded to remove the squatters from the premises, and added that nobody was harassed, and no action was taken against any specific community.

Francis, also the joint secretary of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy, gave a very different version of events. He claimed in a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Thursday that five Muslim males living in the colony had harassed two Christian girls on June 13, and threatened their families when they protested. After their complaints were ignored by PAF officers, the girls approached J Salik, Christian community leader and former federal minister, and with his support lodged an FIR at the Margalla Police Station against the five men, leading to the arrests of all five between June 15 and 16.

after checking with the police station where the FIR was lodged, Daily Times learnt that the report was, lodged against four Muslim men who were residents of the same area. However, only one Christian girl was named as a victim in the FIR, as opposed to the two as claimed by Francis. He urged the president, the prime minister, the chief justices of the Supreme Court and the PAF chief to investigate, punish those responsible, secure the release of any of the males still being detained, return the families to their homes and compensate them for trauma and financial loss. staff report

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