Youhanabad episode recalled as the most gruesome attack against the country’s Christian community.
The year 2015 was not much different from the preceding years for the Christian and Ahmadiyya communities of the province. Community members complain that persecution and misuse of blasphemy laws continued without any concerted action by state functionaries against those responsible. They say in some cases the police had resorted to harassing the aggrieved instead of tracking down the perpetrators.
Youhanabad church attacks
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Christian community members recall suicide attacks at two churches in Youhanabad as the most gruesome to date against the country’s Christian community.
At least 15 people had lost their lives and 70 others were injured in the attacks that took place on March 17. Hundreds of residents of the neighbourhood had taken to the streets in protest and blocked Ferozepur Road for traffic following the attacks. A mob had started ransacking property including the Metro Bus station. Two men accused of being accomplices of the attackers were caught and lynched by the mob. The deceased were residents of nearby villages and not related to the attacks. Dozens of Youhanabad residents were detained by the police for interrogation as others fled the area fearing arrests. As many as 47 of them are in jail, facing a trial on charges of killing the two men.
“My family is not celebrating Christmas this year,” says Aman Sahotra, daughter of Aslam Parvez Sahotra, one of the suspects. She laments that the police had yet to make progress in investigation of the suicide attacks. However, she says prompt action had been taken against Christian citizens who protested over the attack. “My father is 60 years old and suffers from chronic pain in the back,” she says.
After the denial of Sahotra’s application for release on bail by a lower court, his family is now pinning hopes on Lahore High Court where a petition is pending hearing.
Aftab Gill’s application for release on bail has been granted by a court. He had been held on charges of damaging public property. Speaking to The Tribune, Gill says based on the police’s response to the Youhanabad attacks it appears that Christians’ right to life in Pakistan exists only on paper. He says the state should be impartial in its dealings with various religious communities.
Iqbal Shah, the DSP concerned, says only those identified through a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) footage were arrested following the riot.
He says progress had been made in the investigation of the suicide attacks but refuses to release details.
Arson attack at Ahmadiyya owned factory and worship place
On November 20, a charged mob attacked and burnt an Ahmadiyya-owned chipboard factory and 11 houses of community members in Jehlum. The mob also ransacked an Ahmadiyya worship place in the area. Dozens of people fled the area following the incident. As many as 35 suspects are facing a trial over the incident.
An Ahmadiyya man, a security officer at the factory, was also held in connection with the incident on blasphemy charges.
Speaking to the Tribune, Amir Ahmed, an official of Jamat-i-Ahmadiyya, says extremist outfits attack and kill members of his community with impunity. The state acts as a silent spectator in most such cases, he says.
Ahmed says an Ahmadiyya man held in a blasphemy case over which three Ahmadiyya women were burnt by a mob in Gujranwala had been recently acquitted by the court. “The women were innocent. We want justice for them,” he says. He says the families of the deceased had left the area fearing for their lives. “There has been no action under the National Action Plan (NAP) against those perpetrating hate against the Ahmadiyya community,” he says.
Other incidents
In other incidents this year, the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) denied bail to a manager of Al-Fazl, a 102-year-old Ahmadiyya daily publication and a Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench dismissed blasphemy convict Aasia Bibi’s appeal against her death sentence.
Timely action by police averted a mob attack on a Christian couple’s house in Sheikhupura in July.
A Christian headmaster in was reportedly beaten up by his colleagues over an argument. An inquiry was initiated against a Christian physical education instructor accused of preaching his beliefs to the students.
A shopkeeper held by Gulberg police for displaying a sticker containing hate speech against Ahmadiyya community at the entrance of his shop at Hafeez Centre was released on bail a day after the arrest.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 30th, 2015.
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