PAKPATTAN – Explosion caused by a planted bomb outside the centuries-old Sharqi Gate of Hazrat Baba Fareed-ud-Din Masood Ganj Shakar (RA) Shrine on Monday morning resulted in seven deaths while 17 others were injured.
According to police, the bomb hidden in milk pot went off at 6:25am after Fajr prayers. The victims are: Hanif, Shakooran Bibi, Mubarak alias Boota and Sardaran while three other were yet to be unidentified. The injured are being treated at Pakpattan but five with serious wounds have been shifted to Sahiwal and Lahore. The blast damaged the outer structure of the gate and destroyed 12 shops located nearby.
Police had already closed the main entrance three months back because of the continuous security threats to shrine as the devotees were allowed to use only one entry point.
The locals reacted to the incident strongly as all the markets around the city remained shut after a unanimous decision by the traders. Various organisations, including Pakpattan District Bar Association, while condemning the terrorists blasted the government for not arranging proper security at the sacred site.
On the other hand, Tehrik Faizan-e-Aulia Pakistan has called a meeting of religious leaders from around the country on December 26 at the Baba FareedÂ’s shrine to formulate the future plan of action.
Agencies add: On the other hand, city police chief Mohammad Kashif told Reuters by telephone that the explosive was planted on a motorcycle.
“According to initial reports, two men came on the motorcycle and parked it near the gate just minutes before the blast,” he said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but Taliban militants have in the past attacked Sufi shrines, as they abhor the Sufi strand of Islam and disapprove of visiting shrines. At least a 200 people have been reported to be present at the time of the blast.
But AFP quoting a witness said two men riding a motorbike left a milk container near the gate of the shrine, which then exploded in a huge fireball.
Police said the mausoleum of Baba Farid was undamaged and that the blast took place near the eastern gate, which was closed for security reasons.
Doctor Mohammad Ashraf, head of the local hospital in Pakpattan, said two women were among the dead and that some of the critically wounded had been taken for specialist treatment in Lahore.
A top religious scholar, Mufti Munibur Rehman, said extremists had launched a ‘campaign’ to impose their austere ideology on other people.
“They are systematically targeting our sacred places across the country and the government is doing nothing,” said Rehman, as he referred to the ongoing series of attacks against the followers of Sufi tradition.
“The priorities of our rulers are different. They are busy most of the time to serve their foreign masters instead of protecting the people, mosques and shrines from terrorists,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani strongly, while condemning the blast at the shrine of Hazrat Baba Fareed-ud-Din Ganj Shakar, expressed shock and grief over the loss of lives and injuries.
In separate messages, the president and the prime minister said the act had been carried by the elements desirous of creating unrest and demoralise the people, but they would not succeed in their nefarious designs.
The top leaders of the country said the perpetrators of the blast would not escape the law of the land.
They directed the law enforcement agencies to investigate the matter and submit a report.
They prayed to Allah Almighty to shower his blessings on those who lost lives and ordered the authorities to provide best possible treatment to the injured.