(MENAFN- Khaama Press) Armed mobs have attacked at least four churches in Jaranwala in Punjab province, Pakistan. This attack stemmed from accusations of blasphemy against two Christian residents on Wednesday. The mobs also destroyed the residence of a Christian cleaner who faced allegations of committing a blasphemous act.
The Church of Pakistan's Moderator Bishop claimed that Bibles were desecrated and Christians were tortured in an attack in Jaranwala tehsil, Faisalabad district. Due to the precarious law-and-order situation, the district commissioner has requested for two companies of Pakistan Rangers to be deployed.
The Salvation Army Church, United Presbyterian Church, Allied Foundation Church, and Shehroonwala Church, all located in the Isa Nagri area, were subjected to vandalism, Imran Bhatti, the pastor of Jaranwala, told Dawn.
Two months before this incident, a 22-year-old Christian man was condemned to death for possessing blasphemous images on his cell phone.
“There are narrow lanes [in the area] in which small churches are located, and there is one main church ... they have vandalised portions of the churches,” the police chief of Pakistan's Punjab, Usman Anwar, told Dawn.
Mr Anwar stated that the area had been secured with cordons, and the assistant commissioner of the locality, who belonged to the Christian community, had been evacuated due to a shift in sentiment among the residents.
The police have also lodged a report against two Christian residents from the local area, invoking Pakistan's contentious blasphemy laws.
“Words fail me as I write this. We, Bishops, Priests and lay people are deeply pained and distressed at the Jaranwala incident in the Faisalabad District in Pakistan. A church building is being burnt as I type this message. Bibles have been desecrated, and Christians have been tortured and harassed (sic), falsely accused of violating the Holy Quran,” Azad Marshall, the Moderator Bishop of the Church of Pakistan, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Urging the police and other law enforcement agencies to take decisive action, the Bishop added,“We cry out for justice and action from law enforcement and those who dispense justice and the safety of all citizens to intervene immediately and assure us that our lives are valuable in our homeland that has just celebrated independence and freedom.”
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