Hundreds of Muslims set fire to several churches and vandalized a Christian cemetery in eastern Pakistan on Wednesday in response to alleged blasphemy uttered by a Christian family.
The attack was sparked when a group of religious fanatics accused a local Christian family of desecrating the Quran.
“The mob inflicted serious damage, including on Christian homes and several churches,” local government official Ahad Noor told AFP.
“Photos and videos of burned pages of the Koran were shared among residents, which caused an outcry,” said Rana Imran Jamil, spokesperson for the city’s emergency services, by telephone.
Armed with sticks and stones, men then stormed the predominantly Christian district of the city of Faisalabad, police in the area told AFP.
Videos posted on social media show local Muslim leaders exhorting their worshipers through loudspeakers.
“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”, proclaims a religious.
In another video, the crowd demands that suspected blasphemers be punished, as a cross is torn from the top of a building.
Footage also shows smoke billowing from the church and furniture like beds and chairs set on fire in the street.
According to police and emergency service officials, at least four churches were set on fire while residents of this predominantly Christian neighborhood reported a dozen buildings used by the Christian community damaged. However, these incidents did not cause any injuries.
Several thousand police were sent to the scene and dozens of people arrested, said Amir Mir, Minister of Information of the State of Punjab in a press release also denouncing the blasphemy which would be at the origin of these incidents.
A Christian cemetery was also vandalized, along with the local government office, with crowds demanding action from the authorities.
A face-to-face then engaged between the police and the angry crowd. Police and paramilitary forces were deployed “to control the situation”, district government official Ahad Noor told AFP.
According to a police report, charges are being brought against two Christian men who fled the area.
“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,” the bishop of neighboring Lahore, Azad Marshall, posted on social network X (formerly Twitter).
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 refrigerators, 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. he said, interviewed by telephone by AFP.
The United States has urged the Pakistani government to investigate these 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 carry out a full investigation into these allegations and call for calm.”
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.
16/08/2023 22:59:41 – Faisalabad (Pakistan) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
