Armed mobs have attacked at least two churches in Jaranwala, Punjab province, accusing two Christian locals of blasphemy.
Social media videos showed a crowd of people setting fire to the Saint Paul Catholic Church and the Salvation Army Church while another mob attacked private homes, torching them and breaking windows.
At Jaranwala, 115 kilometers (71 miles) from the provincial capital of Lahore, Mohammed Naved, an inspector with the Punjab Provincial Police, said authorities were trying their best to control the mob.
“We are undertaking all legal measures as required in the situation,” Naved told the media.
Additionally, police reported two local Christians for violating Pakistan’s contentious blasphemy laws.
According to an official statement, paramilitary Rangers have been deployed “in connection with the religious conflict and sensitive situation of law and order at Tehsil Jaranwala District Faisalabad”.
The controversy began following the discovery of allegedly blasphemous writing on torn pages of the Quran, the Muslim religion’s holy book, close to a Christian settlement.
A local religious figure was shown the pages, and he reportedly urged Muslims to protest and demand that the offenders be put behind bars.
The angry mob, according to Akmal Bhatti, chairman of Minorities Alliance Pakistan, used the blasphemy laws to justify setting innocent people’s private residences on fire. He denounced the incident.
More than 150 families lived in the Christian community close to the Salvation Army Church, according to lawyer Bhatti, and as the situation deteriorated, women and children evacuated.
“As things looked tense, families started leaving Jaranwala to go to their relatives in a nearby village, or the city of Faisalabad, which is roughly 40km [24 miles] away,” he said from Jaranwala.
In Pakistan, blasphemy is a sensitive subject because even the most minor accusations can spark widespread violence.
Source-Aljazeera
