Pak police arrest 2 for spreading sectarian hatred

Pakistani police have arrested two schoolteachers and booked 25 people for allegedly spreading sectarian hatred in the wake of clashes that left 11 people dead during Shia Ashura rituals last week.
Police arrested Nawaz Qadri and Zafar Khan, teachers at a government school in Jhang district, 200 km from Lahore, after the district administration received complaints that they were making hate speeches in classrooms against Shias, causing clashes between students and teachers on the campus.
Jhang district is a stronghold of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP).
In Bahawalpur district, 350 km from here, the police registered a case against 25 people for making provocative speeches and blocking the road.

Those booked under the Maintenance of Public Order and Pakistan Penal Code include clerics and seminary students.
They blocked the GT Road and allegedly made hate speeches against Shias, inciting people to attack them.

The government has imposed section 144 in several districts of the country including Rawalpindi, Multan, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Hangu and Kohat to prevent sectarian clashes.
The situation in these districts is reported to be tense.
Following last week's clashes in Rawalpindi, curfew was imposed in three cities and the army was called in to control the situation.