LAHORE: Pakistan’s Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar vowed to take “stern action” against a crowd that attacked Christians in eastern Pakistan and set churches on fire on Wednesday, over accusations they had desecrated the holy Qur’an.
The incident took place in Jaranwala town of Pakistan’s industrial city of Faisalabad, police spokesman Naveed Ahmad said. A violent crowd had attacked the community after two Christians were accused of blasphemy and set several houses on fire, he said.
“I am gutted by the visuals coming out of Jaranwala,#Faisalabad,” Kakar wrote on the X platform. “Stern action would be taken against those who violate law and target minorities.”
He said the law enforcement agencies had been tasked to arrest all culprits involved in the incident and bring them to book.
As per media reports, police tried to calm the enraged mob but a large crowd had assembled and blocked a nearby highway.
According to a notification seen by Arab News, Faisalabad’s commissioner requested the deployment of two companies of paramilitary Rangers forces in the city to quell the violence in the city.
“Despite the police’s best efforts, the law-and-order situations still stands too sensitive and vulnerable,” the notification read. “Thus, you are requested to deploy two companies of Rangers/sufficient armed force urgently to check the turmoiling law and order situation at Tehsil Jaranwala District Faisalabad.”
In this photo provided by the district police office, a police officer pours water into a burning house in a Christian neighborhood following angry mob attack in Jaranwala near Faisalabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. (Photo courtesy: District Police Office via AP)
A Christian leader, Akmal Bhatti, said the crowd had torched at least five churches and looted valuables from houses abandoned by their owners after clerics made announcements in mosques inciting the mob.
Police, meanwhile, gave no details about the violence that took place. However, several social media posts showed some churches on fire as well as houses and belongings.
Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan and though no one has ever been executed for it, numerous accused people have been lynched by outraged crowds.
Rights groups say accusations of blasphemy are also misused to settle scores. Hundreds of people are languishing in prison after being accused of it as judges often put off trials, fearing retribution if they are seen as too lenient, human rights defenders say.
