PESHAWAR, March 11: Minority member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly from Awami National Party Asif Bhatti on Monday accused the Punjab government of patronising religious extremists, who, he said, torched around 200 houses and shops of Christians in Lahore on Saturday.

Speaking on a point of order in the House, the MPA said Christians had been subjected to violence in Punjab during the five years rule of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in the province, and recalled the Gojra, Shanti Nagar and Sangla Hill incidents. He said religious extremists torched houses and shops of Christians in Lahore without let or hindrance as policemen acted as silent spectators.

“The Punjab government has not only failed to protect Christians but also patronises extremist elements,” he said demanding immediate resignation of the Shahbaz Sharif-led government.

He said officers holding responsible positions in Punjab failed to take any action against perpetrators of violence against Christians.

Mr Bhatti said Holy Prophet Mohammad always preached peace, love and tolerance and urged Muslims to take care of religious minorities, but some wanted to earn a bad name for Islam by subjecting minorities to violence.

“More than 200 copies of the Bible have been burnt in Lahore. Tell me if those who burned copies of the holy book will ever be arrested.

These people have forgotten the teachings of Holy Prophet Mohammad,” he said.

The MPA, who tied black armband to protest Lahore incident, said it was unfortunate that police were present on the occasion when mob attacked the houses of Christians.

He said the Christian member of the then Punjab Assembly had voted for Pakistan and that Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had said there was no Muslim, no Christian and no Hindu and all were Pakistanis, but some forces were out to divide the society on religious, ethic and linguistic lines to achieve their ulterior objectives.

“There is no divide among the people,” he said.

Mr Bhatti later staged a walkout to register protest against the Lahore incident.

Later responding to the point of order, Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain condemned the Lahore incident and said some elements were trying to destabilise Pakistan by targeting religious minorities.

He added that like Christians, Shias, Sunnis, the army, police and places of worship were also being targeted.

The minister said the torching of an entire hamlet had never happened in a civilised world and that the people committed the heinous crime under the banner of Islam.

Later, the House passed four bills, including The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance (Amendment) Bill, 2013, The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Workers’ Compensation Bill, 2013, The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Maternity Benefits Bill, 2013 and The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Factories Bill, 2013.

Also, three bills, including The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Arms Bill, 2013, The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Explosives Substances Bill, 2013 and The Provincial Motor Vehicles (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) (Amendment) Bill, 2013 were introduced.

Speaker Kiramatullah Khan Chagharmatti, who was in the chair, later adjourned the session until 4pm today (Tuesday).