RECENTLY a mob in Quetta had attacked a police station, demanding that a detained man, said to be mentally retarded, be handed over to them to be executed for allegedly desecrating the Holy Quran. It left one person dead and several others injured. The protest was probably organised by a clergy of the locality.

A few days back, property tycoon Malik Riaz, while brandishing a copy of the Holy Quran, had leveled serious allegations against the chief justice.

Earlier, a similar sort of thing was done by Dr Zulfikar Mirza in an attempt to settle scores with political rivals and coalition partners in order to promote his vested interests.

The brandishing of the holy book in public places for promoting one’s personal interests is tantamount to desecrating it. I, therefore, request competent authorities in Pakistan to invoke the ‘blasphemy act’ against the two elites whose heinous crime of desecrating the Holy Quran has been witnessed by millions of Pakistanis.

Some innocent and poor Pakistanis are detained for years under the blasphemy law on mere allegations levelled by certain individuals. I also invite the so-called custodians of faith to do something positive to avoid reoccurrence of such episodes in future which is giving Islam a bad name.

J. S. Lahore