NEW DELHI: A mob of Muslims went on a violent spree in eastern Pakistan following accusations against a Christian man for desecrating the pages of Quran. They vandalized and set fire to his house, assaulting him in the process, before police intervened and rescued the man and his father, AP reported quoting officials.
According to Shariq Kamal, the police chief of Sargodha district, the crowd, which accused the Christian group of blasphemy, threw stones and bricks at the police.He stated that a large contingent of police had cordoned off the settlement, pushed back the crowd, and taken five injured Christians to the hospital.
A police spokesman and Akmal Bhatti, a Christian leader, said that at least one house and a small shoe factory were set on fire by protesters who had gathered after neighbors alleged that a minority community member had desecrated the Muslim holy book, the Koran. “They burned one house and lynched several Christians,” Bhatti said.
Social media videos showed protesters looting items from burning properties and throwing them into a burning heap on the street.
The HRCP expressed serious concern about the situation in Sargodha’s Gillwala village, where the Christian community is reportedly at grave risk from charged mobs.
“HRCP is seriously concerned by the unfolding situation in #Sargodha, where the Christian community in Gillwala village is reportedly at grave risk to their lives at the hands of charged mobs. There are unconfirmed reports of a man having been allegedly lynched,” the HRCP posted on X.
“The Punjab police @OfficialDPRPP and district administration must immediately restore calm and bring the perpetrators to book while ensuring that the Christian community comes to no further harm,” it added.
Last year in August, a similar but larger-scale incident occurred in Jaranwala, Pakistan, where over 21 churches and more than a hundred houses were burned down, some reduced to rubble, in a mob attack over allegations of ‘blasphemy’. The incident also involved widespread looting and burning of hundreds of homes across 11 areas in the Faisalabad district. As a result, 10,000 Christians were immediately displaced, and 20,000 were affected by the incident.
(With inputs from agencies)
According to Shariq Kamal, the police chief of Sargodha district, the crowd, which accused the Christian group of blasphemy, threw stones and bricks at the police.He stated that a large contingent of police had cordoned off the settlement, pushed back the crowd, and taken five injured Christians to the hospital.
A police spokesman and Akmal Bhatti, a Christian leader, said that at least one house and a small shoe factory were set on fire by protesters who had gathered after neighbors alleged that a minority community member had desecrated the Muslim holy book, the Koran. “They burned one house and lynched several Christians,” Bhatti said.
Social media videos showed protesters looting items from burning properties and throwing them into a burning heap on the street.
The HRCP expressed serious concern about the situation in Sargodha’s Gillwala village, where the Christian community is reportedly at grave risk from charged mobs.
“HRCP is seriously concerned by the unfolding situation in #Sargodha, where the Christian community in Gillwala village is reportedly at grave risk to their lives at the hands of charged mobs. There are unconfirmed reports of a man having been allegedly lynched,” the HRCP posted on X.
“The Punjab police @OfficialDPRPP and district administration must immediately restore calm and bring the perpetrators to book while ensuring that the Christian community comes to no further harm,” it added.
Last year in August, a similar but larger-scale incident occurred in Jaranwala, Pakistan, where over 21 churches and more than a hundred houses were burned down, some reduced to rubble, in a mob attack over allegations of ‘blasphemy’. The incident also involved widespread looting and burning of hundreds of homes across 11 areas in the Faisalabad district. As a result, 10,000 Christians were immediately displaced, and 20,000 were affected by the incident.
(With inputs from agencies)
