Minorities, NGOs strongly condemn Jaranwala incident
Charged mob of over hundreds of people storms a Christian neighborhood in Jalanwala tehsil of Faisalabad, vandalising homes and churches on blasphemy allegations on August 16, 2023. PHOTO: EXPRESS
The organisers of the Minority Rights March and Aurat March have vehemently condemned the attack on the Christian community in Jaranwala, Faisalabad, following an incident of blasphemy allegedly committed by two local Christian youth.
The representatives of the Aurat and Minority Rights March during their press conference on Thursday at the Karachi Press Club feared that these attacks have increased fear among the minority communities.
“As is seen in such cases, a mob instigated by local clerics proceeded to ransack and burn homes of the Christians, and damage churches,” they said, adding: “This incident seems to be an organised and planned attack on minorities.”
They said, “This is against the freedom of life and liberty the Constitution of Pakistan gives to the minorities.”
They further mentioned that this incident questions the competence of Punjab police who after registering the blasphemy case did not take any protective measure, knowing that people might react. They criticised the IG Punjab for simply terming the attackers as protestors instead of registering an FIR against them.
Those who address the press conference included Cardinal Joseph Coutts, Maharaj Ramnath, Bishop Benny Mario, Sheema Kermani, Niomi Bashir, Safina Javed, Luke Victor, Pastor Ghazala, and Bhevish Kumar. Meanwhile, condemning the incident of attacking the churches and homes of Christians in Jaranwala the Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi said, “It is shocking that immediately after we being patriotic Pakistanis celebrated the Independence Day faced hatred while the Constitution gives us liberty to enjoy equal rights in the country.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 18th, 2023.