A high-level inquiry has been ordered by the caretaker Punjab government after a violent mob set fire to a number of churches and vandalized Christians’ homes on Wednesday, while Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday vowed to restore within three to four days all the churches and Christians’ homes that were ransacked and torched during the Jaranwala violence a day earlier.
On Wednesday, a violent mob of hundreds had ransacked and torched five churches while also attacking the residences of members of the Christian community.
“This was a well thought out plan to disrupt peace and a high-level investigation is underway regarding the desecration of the Holy Quran and incidents that take place afterward,” a spokesperson for the provincial government said in a statement.
The mob-led assault on Christian families and their homes and sites of worship in #Jaranwala, Faisalabad, following allegations of blasphemy, must be condemned in no uncertain terms. The frequency and scale of such attacks—which are systematic, violent and often uncontainable—
— Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (@HRCP87) August 16, 2023
The spokesperson said police “foiled” the bid to attack the homes of the minorities and that the “peace committee” mobilized to ensure similar attempts are thwarted.
“The frequency and scale of such attacks — which are systematic, violent and often uncontainable — appear to have increased in the last several years,” said the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
The rights group called for the setting up and equipping of special police forces to protect religious minorities’ sites of worship, as directed by a 2014 Supreme Court judgment.
