A mob of Muslims burns several churches and loots houses after the alleged blasphemy of a Christian in Pakistan

2023-08-17 08:42:27

At least five churches have been burned this wednesday in Faisalabad, North East Pakistan, after local inhabitants accused a young Christian of committing blasphemy, a crime considered serious in the Asian country. Specifically, according to the police, he is accused of “tearing the pages of the holy Quran and writing blasphemous words against the prophet Muhammad“.

The mob set fire to places of worship and also vandalized a cemetery and las christian houses, causing some members of this minority to flee the town, which barely accounts for 1.27% of the population in Pakistan, according to the latest census. Faced with the impossibility of controlling the assailants, the authorities called in the militarized Rangers police unit.

“Words fail me as I write this. We, bishops, priests and ordinary people are deeply hurt and afflicted,” lamented the president of the Pakistani church, Bishop Azad Marshall, who accused mobs of “desecrating” bibles and “torture and harass” falsely accused christianswhile calling for immediate intervention by the authorities to stop the violence.

Systematic attacks against Christians

“Severe action will be taken against those who break the law and attack minorities. All law enforcement agencies have been asked to arrest the culprits and bring them to justice. Please be assured that the Government of Pakistan supports our citizens on an equal footing“, has assured the acting prime minister of the country, the Baluch Anwarul Haq Kakar.

However, the Pakistan Human Rights Commission has insisted that these extremist attacks, which are “systematic, violent and often unstoppable”, have increased “in recent years”. Thus, those accused of blasphemy end up being targeted by extremist Muslims and, in some cases, have been shot, burned alive, or bludgeoned to death.

A crime punishable by death

The crime of blasphemy was established in British colonial times and hardened by dictator Mohamed Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s and carries the death penalty in Pakistan, although no one has ever been executed for it. The best known case is that of Aunt Asiawho was sentenced to death in 2010but was acquitted by the Supreme Court in 2018, sparking massive protests.

Violence against those accused of insulting Islam is a constant. Last February, a mob stormed a police station in eastern Pakistan and beat to death a man they accused of desecrating the Koran.