PESHAWAR — Authorities in northwest Pakistan said on Monday that a Chineseengineer has been detained for allegedly insulting Islam.
This put an end to heated rallies that had erupted against the foreignerovernight.
About 350 kilometres north of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, the policeidentified the detainee as “Mr. Tian,” head of heavy transport of the ChinaGezhouba Group Company working on the Dasu hydroelectric project.
The conflict started on Saturday when the Chinese manager attempted topressure his local driving crew to speed up the pace of work while theywere collectively praying at the workplace.
Official police complaint stated that the man “continued to make insultingremarks and derogatory gestures to disparage Allah and the Prophet ofMuslims.”
Read Top Stories
The project is being developed in the Kohistan area, and according to thepolice, the suspected blasphemy act infuriated the local workforce. As aresult, heated demonstrations broke out Sunday evening, with hundreds ofdemonstrators blocking the key highway between Pakistan and China.
When the Chinese national was taken into prison and community leaders weregiven the assurance that he would face legal prosecution, thedemonstrations stopped early on Monday morning, according to the police.The demonstrations had lasted for several hours.
In Pakistan, blasphemy is a serious offence that carries a death sentence,Mobs frequently assault suspects and occasionally lynch them. In mostcases, the accused are found to be innocent.
