A church in Jaranwala damaged in the August 2023 violence. (Photo: NCJP Pakistan)
A Catholic bishop in Pakistan has condemned the inaction of the authorities in the country, noting that two years after “the worst incident against Christians” in Pakistan’s history, nothing has been done.
Bishop Indrias Rehmat was referring to a highly coordinated set of attacks carried out by Muslim mobs in the Punjab’s Jaranwala district on 16 August 2023. The mobs were incited to violence by false claims that a pair of Christian brothers had torn pages from a Quran.
The resulting violence led to extensive property damage, with 26 churches, 80 Christian homes and a number of church halls, priest’s houses and Christian gravestones affected. Fortunately, there were no reported deaths.
Over 5,200 people were accused of involvement in the violence, with over 380 arrested, many of whom were released on bail. Two months ago Faisalabad’s Anti-Terrorism Court acquitted 10 people accused of burning one of the churches. So far not a single person has been convicted over the violence.
Bishop Rehmat, of the Diocese of Faisalabad, told Aid to the Church in Need, “Justice has not been done. The police have not done their duty. Nobody has been punished and nobody has been dealt with properly. At this stage, we do not see any hope of any culprit being punished.”
According to the bishop, local extremists have been threatening and harassing Christians in a bid to silence them, but that many are no longer intimidated.
“What’s changed over the last two years since the attacks is that people have now become ready to fight for their rights. They say we should shout and scream,” he said.
Feeding Christian anger, the bishop said, is the fact that the only people who have faced criminal sanctions so far are Christians. Ehsan Masih was found guilty of sharing an image of a damaged Quran on social media, while in April Pervaiz Masih – no relation – was sentenced to death for allegedly committing the original act of Quran tearing and blaming it on the two brothers, Rocky and Raja Masih – also no relation – as part of a vendetta.
Local Christian leaders have cast doubt on the validity of these convictions and have also lamented that government compensation has lead in many cases to the sub-standard replacement of destroyed homes and churches.
Pakistan’s bishops described the attack two years ago as the “worst” anti-Christian incident in Pakistan’s history. While it was possibly the most coordinated and the most destructive in terms of church and private property, sadly other incidents in Pakistan vie for the title.
The 2009 Gojra riots lead to the destruction of two churches, dozens of houses and the deaths of eight people, seven of whom were burned alive. In 2013 the Taliban bombed a church in Peshawar during a Sunday service, killing 85 and injuring over a 100.
Pakistan: Not one person found guilty of anti-Christian pogrom in 2023
