Pakistani police charged with protecting an entire Christian neighborhood. Attacked the day before, Wednesday August 16, by individuals of Muslim faith in the eastern region of the country, Christians in the city of Faisalabad are accused of having desecrated the Koran, the holy book of the Muslim faithful. Hundreds of Muslims swept through the streets of the Christian quarter of Jaranwala on the outskirts of the industrial city of Faisalabad in Punjab state on Wednesday. Several churches were burnt down and a Christian cemetery vandalized.
The assault was sparked when a group of religious fanatics accused a family of blaspheming against the holy text of Islam. A Punjab government spokesman said in a statement that more than 100 people have been arrested and police are also looking for the targeted family.
“The Koran has been desecrated and the feelings of Muslims hurt. The order was given to arrest the defendants,” the document states. Yasir Bhatti, a 31-year-old Christian Pakistani, said he fled his home near one of the burned churches.
“They broke windows, doors and took out fridges, sofas, chairs and other furniture to pile them up in front of the church and burn them. They also burned and desecrated Bibles,” he said. Video shows the crowd demanding that suspected blasphemers be punished as a cross is torn from the top of a building.
“The mob inflicted serious damage, including on Christian homes and several churches,” local government official Ahad Noor said. In other videos posted on social media, Muslim leaders can be seen using loudspeakers to call on their followers to take action. “The Christians have desecrated the Koran. All religious, all Muslims must unite and gather in front of the mosque. Better to die if you don’t care about Islam,” one cleric said.
“We call for justice and action from law enforcement and those who dispense justice…to intervene immediately and assure us that our lives have value in our own homeland “, posted on the social network X (formerly Twitter) the bishop of the neighboring city of Lahore, Azad Marshall.
Words fail me as I write this. We, Bishops, Priests and lay people are deeply pained and distressed at the Jaranwala incident in the Faisalabad District in Pakistan. A church building is being burnt as I type this message. Bibles have been desecrated and Christians have been… pic.twitter.com/xruE83NPXL
The issue of blasphemy is particularly sensitive in Pakistan, where even unproven allegations of offense to Islam can result in killings and lynchings. The Independent Human Rights Commission in Pakistan has repeatedly pointed out that blasphemy laws are being used as weapons to target religious minorities and settle personal vendettas, and that such violent incidents have been on the rise for several years.
Christians, who make up around 2% of the population, occupy one of the lowest rungs of Pakistani society and are frequent targets of spurious and unfounded blasphemy allegations. Politicians have been murdered, lawyers killed and students lynched over such accusations.
The United States has urged the Pakistani government to investigate the attacks. “We are deeply shocked that churches and homes have been targeted in response to an alleged desecration of the Quran in Pakistan,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Wednesday. “Violence or the threat of violence is by no means an acceptable form of expression,” he said. We urge the Pakistani authorities to fully investigate these allegations and call for calm. »
Pakistan’s new acting prime minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, said he was “disgusted” by the events, announcing “severe measures against those who break the law and target minorities”.
