Churches burn, families flee: Pakistan’s Christian community under siege

An enraged mob in Pakistan’s Punjab province set fire to multiple churches, a cemetery, and residential buildings on Wednesday in an incident triggered by accusations of Quran desecration by the Christian community. The resulting violence forced at least 500 families to flee their homes in the three Christian settlements. Church leaders have claimed that numerous Bibles were desecrated and that ‘Christians were tortured’ in the aftermath of the attack.

The attack was triggered after photos and video clips of alleged Quran desecration circulated amongst the locals. Subsequently, videos spread across social media featuring Muslim leaders and clerics calling for unity and demonstration against the alleged desecration.
Paramilitary deployment and alleged police inaction

Paramilitary forces were dispatched to the settlement in Eastern Pakistan following claims from locals that police inaction had permitted the mob to forcefully breach and vandalize the churches. The attack, residents noted, went on for more than 10 hours without any intervention by the police who were present at the scene. Subsequently, access points to the Christian colony have been secured with the placement of barbed wire barriers in the aftermath of the assault.
Arrests following mob attack

A day after the mob attack, authorities launched an investigation that resulted in the arrest of at least 129 individuals. Despite being one of the most lethal assaults on the Christian community by a mob, no casualties have been reported so far. As a response, schools and offices have been closed for a week, and all public rallies have been prohibited. Delegations of Muslim clerics, meanwhile, have been dispatched to calm to the situation.
What is Pakistan’s blasphemy law?

Pakistan has one of the most rigid blasphemy laws, under which, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or Islamic figures can be handed out a death sentence for blasphemy. The country has had a history of assassinations, lynchings and riots across the country over the issue. The law rooted in 19th-century colonial legislation persists as a significant and hotly debated political concern despite ongoing criticism.
A 22-year-old Christian man Noman Masih was recently convicted to death for possessing blasphemous images on his phone, a move which was condemned by numerous human rights organisations. Another person, Syed Muhammad Zeeshan was sentenced to death in northwest Pakistan for posting blasphemous content on a social media group.
Pakistan’s minority Christian community
Constituting around 2 percent of the total population, Christians in Pakistan primarily inhabit the marginalized rungs of society. One such Christian quarter is in Jaranwala, the area which was attacked by the Muslim mobs on Wednesday. The Christians who fled their homes exclaimed that their Muslim neighbours helped them find a safe abode and offered entry to their homes till it was safe to return back home.
Interim PM Anwaarul Haq Kakar who recently assumed office after the parliament was dissolved condemned the violence and promised action against those disrupting the law. Numerous domestic and international human rights groups condemned the violence noting that the blasphemy law has often been used to target religious minorities in Pakistan.