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LAHORE: More than 80 Christian homes and 19 churches in Pakistan were vandalised when a Muslim mob rampaged through the streets over alleged blasphemy this week, the head of Punjab provincial police, Usman Anwar, said Friday.

“The events that unfolded were tragic. Violence like this can never be justified,” he told AFP, adding that he will travel to the city of Jaranwala on Sunday to show solidarity with the Christian community.

Anwar said he personally interrogated the two Christian brothers “to avoid accusations of torture”.

Hundreds of Pakistan’s Christian minority fled their homes Wednesday when an angry crowd of Muslim men tore through the streets of Jaranwala, on the outskirts of the industrial city of Faisalabad, torching homes and churches.

On Friday, 3,200 churches were guarded by police across Punjab province to provide reassurance to the Christian community, Anwar said.

The angry mob of hundreds were ordered to protest by Muslim clerics, who used mosque loudspeakers to spread news of the allegations.

Homes in the Christian neighbourhood were ransacked, with their contents strewn all over the streets.

Muslims living in the predominantly Christian area gave shelter to their neighbours and pinned Holy Quran verses to the doors of Christian homes to prevent them from being targeted, residents of both faiths told AFP.

‘Must be brought to justice’

Government and religious leaders have called for calm.

Christian groups have held a number of small protests across the country calling for greater protection.

“We hope that through this protest, the government must realise that this issue must be dealt with sternly and those who committed destruction must be brought to justice,” Archbishop of Karachi, Benny Travis, told AFP at a small rally.

The Punjab caretaker leader Mohsin Naqvi expressed solidarity with Christians, adding that they would be compensated for their losses.

The provincial government has announced an inquiry into the violence.

Comments

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KU Aug 18, 2023 09:41pm
Let's see if the law and police catch the criminals with the same urgency and efficiency that they displayed a few months ago. And surprisingly no media channel is mentioning Yuhanabad in Lahore, where two Christians were injured or killed in a shooting incident.
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Merg Aug 18, 2023 10:03pm
Operation regime change phase 2 in action by the script writers.
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Jerry Aug 19, 2023 04:20am
@Merg, Translation create chaos to extend the illegal rule.
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JK Aug 19, 2023 05:22pm
The guardian busy playing politics and enemy taking advantage of the situation.
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