Armed Mobs Go On The Rampage, Burn Churches, Christian Homes In Pakistan After Blasphemy Allegations | Sahara Reporters https://t.co/Iz8n97TDv9 pic.twitter.com/OQi8O6PxOl
— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) August 16, 2023
The controversy erupted after torn pages of the Koran, the holy book for Moslems, were discovered near the Christian colony with alleged blasphemous content written on them.
The pages were taken to a local religious leader, who reportedly urged Moslems to protest and demand that the culprits be arrested.
Over 100 held after several churches, homes vandalised in Jaranwala
[GEO.TV] More than 100 people have been arrested for their involvement in riots over alleged blasphemy...the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. Some religions consider it to be a crime. In Pakistain you can commit blasphemy by looking cross-eyed at a Koran...
in Faisalabad
...formerly known as Lyallpur, the third largest metropolis in Pakistain, the second largest in Punjab after Lahore. It is named after some Arab because the Paks didn't have anybody notable of their own to name it after...
’s Jaranwala during which members of the Christian community were targeted, the Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....
interim government’s spokesperson confirmed.
In a statement, Punjab government spokesperson said that the provincial government has also ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident.
Earlier, interim Punjab Information Minister Amir Mir had said that "dozens of people who disturbed peace" in the area were detained.
In a statement, the minister said that the violence in Jaranwala was done under a "well-thought-out conspiracy".
"There was a plan to disturb the peace by inciting public sentiments. After the desecration of the Holy Koran, the angry protesters reacted strongly," Mir said, adding that the situation in Faisalabad is fully under control now.
The provincial info minister also said that the investigation into the tragic incident of the desecration of the holy book is underway at a fast pace, adding that anyone who tries to take the law into his hands would be arrested immediately.
The security of churches, he said, has been tightened and a large number of law enforcers have been deployed. More than 6,000 coppers and Rangers personnel are present in the affected areas, he added.
The minister also shared that in today's incidents, no one was injured nor was there any loss of life.
Mir went on to say that the Punjab chief secretary and Inspector General of Punjab Police have reached Jaranwala on the instructions of caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
INTERIM PM GUTTED BY JARANWALA INCIDENT
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Wednesday directed law enforcement agencies to apprehend culprits behind the vandalisation of churches in Jaranwala, Faisalabad over blasphemy allegations.
"I am gutted by the visuals coming out of Jaranwala, Faisalabad. Stern action would be taken against those who violate law and target minorities," said Kakar in a post on X, the microblogging website formerly known as Twitter.
Gutted. The poor dear.
Dawn adds:
Dawn adds:
An enraged mob vandalised multiple churches in the Jaranwala tehsil of Faisalabad on Wednesday over blasphemy allegations, officials said. A Christian leader, Akmal Bhatti, said the crowd had torched at least five churches and looted valuables from houses that had been abandoned by their owners after holy mans made announcements in mosques inciting the mob. Images on social media showed smoke rising from the church buildings and people setting fire to furniture that had been dragged from them.Dozens of people also blocked a nearby highway.
Jaranwala pastor Imran Bhatti told Dawn.com that the ransacked churches included the Salvation Army Church, United Presbyterian Church, Allied Foundation Church and Shehroonwala Church situated in the Isa Nagri area. He added that the mob also demolished the house of a Christian cleaner, accused of blasphemy.
Meanwhile,
...back at the shouting match, the spittle had reached unprecedented levels...
the police registered a first information report against the accused under sections 295B (defiling, etc., of the Holy Koran) and 295C (use of derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet) of the Pakistain Penal Code.
The attacks in Jaranwala, in the district of Faisalabad in Punjab province, erupted after some Moslems living in the area claimed they had seen a local Christian, Raja Amir, and his friend tearing out pages from a Koran, throwing them on the ground and writing insulting remarks on other pages.
Police chief Rizwan Khan said this had angered the local Moslems. A mob gathered and began attacking multiple churches and several Christian homes,
Police eventually intervened, firing into the air and wielding batons before dispersing the attackers with the help of Moslem holy mans and elders.
Police chief Bilal Mehmood told news hounds they were also looking for Amir, who went into hiding to escape the mob, and would detain him to determine whether he had desecrated the Koran.
Several coppers are seen in the videos watching the situation without intervening to stop the vandalism.
Khalid Mukhtar, a local priest, said there are 17 churches in Jaranwala and he believes most of them were attacked. The authorities did not immediately confirm that figure.
Father Gulshan Barkat, who teaches church history at the National Catholic Institute of Theology in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, described the blasphemy
allegations as a "false accusation" and said the local mosques were also to blame because loudspeakers erected on minarets had earlier in the day called on Moslems to gather and "attack the churches and Christian community.""The emotion of our Moslem brethren flares up very quickly, even at hearsay," he said.
None of the holy mans at Jaranwala mosques could be reached to confirm the allegation about the loudspeakers.
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