Pakistan: Minorities' alliance blames state for Jaranwala violence
Aug 23, 2023
Toba Tek Singh [Pakistan], August 23 : The Minorities Alliance Pakistan (MAP) has alleged that the government has failed to protect Christians at Jaranwala, Dawn News reported on Tuesday.
According to Dawn, MAP chairman Akmal Bhatti, addressing a press conference, said the country's minorities have always played a role in the progress of the country but have been denied their fundamental rights since 1947.
The minority alliance leader also said every church in the town was ransacked and burnt and the government should be ashamed of its helplessness. He said the blasphemy laws were misused frequently against religious minorities but such incidents are on the rise now.
Raising security concerns, he demanded a judicial commission led by a high court judge for a fair and transparent probe into the Jaranwala incident and arrest those directly involved along with their accomplices, if any, Dawn reported.
The victims must be taken on board for identification of the perpetrators and a fair survey should be conducted to assess the damage, he demanded further, adding that all the victims must be compensated without any discrimination.
Other Christian leaders, including Fr Abid Tanveer, Sadaf Adna, Tasneem Dawood advocate, and Sarfraz Gill, were also present at the press conference, Dawn reported.
A total of 19 churches were completely gutted and 89 Christian houses burnt down in recent violence targeting the Christian community in Jaranwala in Faisalabad, according to a fact-finding report of the Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP), the report stated.
Further, according to the HRFP report, in the August 16 Jaranwala mob attack, a total of 19 churches were burnt down while some prayer rooms and community halls in two more were also affected.
It further said over 400 houses were affected in total, with 89 Christian houses, including those of pastors and priests being completely gutted while 15 houses were partially destroyed.
The report stated that over 10,000 Christians hid in sugar cane and other fields, during the first night of attack.
