Over 100 held after churches, homes vandalised in Jaranwala

JARANWALA/WASHINGTON/ LAHORE: Law enforcers arrested over 100 suspects for their involvement in riots over alleged blasphemy in Jaranwala Tehsil of Faisalabad during which members of the Christian community were targeted, as Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar Wednesday directed law-enforcement agencies to apprehend culprits behind vandalism 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.

The interim premier said all law-enforcement agencies have been asked to “apprehend culprits and bring them to justice”.

“Rest assured that the government of Pakistan stands with our citizenry on equal basis,” he added.

According to Geo News, a Punjab interim government’s spokesperson confirmed late Wednesday that over 100 suspects had been arrested.

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 Quran, 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 policemen 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.

Earlier, violence erupted throughout the area, four churches and several houses of Christians were set on fire by angry mob in protest against the alleged desecration of Holy Quran, here on Wednesday.

Sources in police and administration said a Christian, Raja Masih, allegedly desecrated Holy Quran in his locality. When people came to know about it, they started gathering Cinema Chowk and held a protest demonstration. SP City Bilal Sulehri, along with police force, reached the spot and launched efforts to pacify agitating people. He held talks with Maulana Muhammad Younas Rizvi, and appealed to people to be peaceful. He promised that the accused would be arrested and a case would be registered against him. However, he failed to pacify the mob, and people started raising slogans. They demanded death sentence for the accused.

Talking to The News the SP said the police were working to dig out facts about the incident. He said strict action would be taken against culprits. Later, as news about the incident spread in the area, people started reaching in the city. Different groups of people set on fire churches and several houses of the Christians in the city area and demolished them. All roads, bazaars and streets of the city were turned in battlefield. The police used shells of tear gas everywhere, but demonstrators could not be brought under control. They pelted the police with stones and the police baton-charged them. Some people and some policemen were injured in clashes.

All shops and business centres were closed. People blocked all main roads by putting wood and setting that on fire. Traffic jams were seen on all roads travellers could not enter the city or leave it.

The Christen community members fled their homes to save their lives. Till filing of the report, situation was very tense and the police seemed totally helpless to restore calm.

“There is a stand-off between the police and the crowds. The crowds are not backing down. Police and Rangers have been deployed to control the situation,” Ahad Noor, a district government official, told AFP.

According to videos posted on the social media, local religious leaders used mosque loudspeakers to urge their followers to demonstrate. “Christians have desecrated the Holy Quran. All clerics, all Muslims should unite and gather in front of the mosque. Better to die if you don’t care about Islam,” one cleric is heard saying in a video.

In another, crowds demand punishment for the accused blasphemers, while attacking a church. Images on social media also showed crowds of people armed with sticks and rocks storming through the predominantly Christian area of the city, with smoke rising from church buildings and charred furniture in the streets.

A Christian cemetery was also vandalised, as well as the local government office, as crowds demanded action from the authorities.

Rana Imran Jamil, a spokesman for the city’s 1122 rescue service, told AFP that four churches had been set on fire. There were no reports of injuries. “Photos and video clips of burnt pages of the Quran were shared among the locals, which created an uproar,” he said.

A police report said charges would be filed against two Christian men who have fled the area.

Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the burning of churches in Jaranwala and houses of Christians. “All religious places, books and personages are sacred and deserve our highest level of respect. I urge the government to take action against the culprits. I also appeal to ulema, mashaykh and religious scholars from all schools of thought to come forward and condemn the reprehensible actions. Such madness can’t be allowed. Pakistan belongs to all religious minorities,” he stated.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) warned that the country’s blasphemy laws are weaponised to target religious minorities and settle personal vendettas. The frequency and scale of such attacks — which are systematic, violent and often uncontainable — appear to have increased in the last several years, said a statement. “Not only has the state failed to protect its religious minorities, it has also allowed the far right to permeate and fester within society and politics. Both the perpetrators and instigators of this violence must be identified and punished to the full extent of the law. The government must waste no time in raising and equipping special police forces to protect religious minorities’ sites of worship as directed by the 2014 Supreme Court judgment.”

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari strongly condemned the incidents in Jaranwala, saying that he was horrified to hear about the attack on Churches in Jaranwala, Faisalabad.

Bilawal said: “Violating the sanctity of places of worship is absolutely unacceptable. The 0administration must ensure the safety of the Christian community and their Churches.” He urged that all resources should be utilised for overcoming religious tensions in Jaranwala and establishing peace. “The reports of provocations received from Jaranwala are disturbing,” he regretted.

Former minister for climate change and Vice President PPP Parliamentarians Senator Sherry Rehman said this is tragic, terrible, reprehensible on so many levels. Unequivocally condemn this act of violent extremism against a place of worship, a Faisalabad church. She said Pakistan’s non-Muslim citizens are entitled to the same justice, protections and rights we all are. “Our religion, our constitution finds no space for such violent exclusions and desecrations of what any community holds sacred,” she said.

PMLN Senior Vice President and Chief Organizer Maryam Nawaz also condemned the violent incidents occurring in Jaranwala.

In her tweet on Wednesday, she said she strongly condemned the violent incidents in Jaranwala. “Attacks on religions and religious places of worship are not acceptable in any way,” she said adding the Pakistani state was bound to provide equal rights and protection to minorities.

Pervez Rafique, Chairman Bhai Chara Foundation, and former MPA PPP Punjab said, “We are sad for what happened in Jaranwala. We condemn the act of blasphemy as well as the attacks on Christian houses and churches in its reaction. Both the incidents were reflections of a sick mindset.”

Chairman of International Interfaith Harmony Council and Pakistan Ulema Council Hafiz Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi strongly condemned the desecration of Holy Quran in Jaranwala and the subsequent attacks on the worship places of the Christian houses and their sanctities.

“In order to stabilise the tense situation, a delegation consisting of leaders of Pakistan Ulema Council and International Interfaith Harmony Council is going to visit Jaranwala,” he said while talking to the media.

Also, religious scholars strongly condemned vandalising of churches in response to an alleged blasphemy of the Holy Quran and Holy Prophet (SAW), committed by two Christians in Jaranwala, and demanded immediate impartial inquiry to ascertain the facts and awarding punishment to the culprits.

Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) president and ameer of Markazi Jamaat Ahle Hadith, Allama Zubair Ahmad Zaheer, said the Jaranwala incident was a conspiracy to undo the growing support of Christian clergy for Islam after the Pope and top priests expressed open condemnation of the burning of Holy Quran in Sweden. He said the growing proximity between Muslims and Christian clergy in the wake of blasphemy of Quran in Sweden and other European countries was the most important development in the past many decades, and Pakistanis must understand that anti-Islam forces would never digest such harmony between the two heavenly religions.

Shah Owais Noorani, former special assistant to the PM and Secretary General Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP), said in his tweet “Today’s riots in Jaranwala are very sad. Desecrating the Holy Quran cannot be tolerated at all. Not punishing any criminal in such incidents prompts people to take the law into their hands.” However, he added “Insulting the place of worship of any religion is also not acceptable in any case. It puts a question mark on performance of the law-enforcement agencies.” He said the role of religion-haters was most condemnable, who were spewing their hatred against Islam in the guise of condemning the Jaranwala incident.

Meanwhile, the US expressed deep concern over the horrific Jaranwala incident and urged Pakistani authorities to conduct a full investigation into allegations.

“We are deeply concerned that churches and homes were targeted in response to reported Quran desecration in Pakistan,” the State Department’s principal deputy spokesperson said while responding to a related question.

“We support peaceful freedom of expression and the right to freedom of religion and belief for everybody as we have previously said we are always concerned about incidents of religiously motivated violence,” he said, adding that violence or the threat of violence was never an acceptable form of expression. “We urge Pakistani authorities to conduct a full investigation into these allegations and call for calm for all those involved,” the spokesperson said.

Separately, the British government expressed concerns on the Jaranwala church burning incident. Lord Tariq Mehmood Ahmed, the Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and United Nations, said in his statement: “Appalled by violence against the Christian community in Jaranwala, Punjab today. Those responsible must be brought to justice. All of Pakistan’s citizens must be free to worship without fear of persecution. The UK remains committed to freedom of religion or belief for all”.