Five churches torched in Pakistan, Over 600 booked in 2 terror cases

Five churches torched in Pakistan, Over 600 booked in 2 terror cases

Faisalabad: The Jaranwala police of the Faisalabad District have filed two terror cases against more than 600 people for ransacking and “torching Christians’ homes and a church building” a day ago, it emerged on Thursday. A day earlier, a violent mob of hundreds had ransacked and torched five churches while also attacking the residences of members of the Christian community and the office of the local assistant commissioner.

A Christian cemetery and the office of the local assistant commissioner were also vandalised. The incident had led the Punjab government to call in Rangers while 3,000 police personnel from various police units, including the Elite Force, had been deployed as well.

As per police and local sources, the violence erupted after some locals alleged that several desecrated pages of the Holy Quran had been found near a house at Cinema Chowk in Jaranwala, where two Christian brothers resided.

In light of the situation, the district administration has imposed Section 144 for seven days, prohibiting all kinds of assembly, except for events organised by the government.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government also ordered the formation of a high-level inquiry committee to investigate the incident, in line with directives issued by Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq. In a statement issued late on Wednesday night, Punjab police said it had made over 100 arrests while Rangers had also been called in.

Both first information reports (FIRs), copies of which are available with Dawn.com, were filed by a sub-inspector of the Jaranwala City police station and state the time of reporting as 10am on Wednesday (August 16).

One of the criminal complaints states that a mob of 500-600, who were led by a group of people, “attacked the Christian community, ransacked people’s homes after entering them and torched Christians’ homes and the church building”.

It identified eight people as leading the mob, one of whom is affiliated with the Jamaat Ahl-e-Sunnat and another with the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

The FIR invoked sections 7(1)(d), 7(1)(j), 7(1)(g) and 7(1)(h) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

It also invoked sections 148, 149, 153A, 186, 295, 295A, 324, 353, 427, 436 and 452 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

The FIR also included sections 5 and 6 of the Punjab Sound Systems (Regulation) Act 2015.

According to the FIR, at around 9:20am, a man used the loudspeakers of Mehtab Mosque — located near the Cinema Chowk — to urge people to “gather and protest” against alleged desecration of the Holy Quran.

It states that the mob gathered outside Mehtab Mosque “armed with batons, road carts, petrol bottles and started chanting slogans”. It added that the people named above incited the mob, who was urged to stop, but it “resisted the police party” and entered the Christian community’s homes and ransacked them.

The FIR goes on to state that the mob “threw out people’s belongings from their homes and started setting them on fire”. The suspects also “entered a Catholic church, destroyed the things there, and damaged and torched its building”, it added.

The complaint further states that subsequently, a police contingent arrived there from Faisalabad headquarters and launched tear gas, “forcing the crowd to disperse”.

Naming another 29 suspects, the FIR said they were “brought under control” after tear gas was used.

It also stated that Radola Road Station House Officer Ghulam Rasool and Constable Mohammad Waqas were injured “as a result of the suspects’ fatal attack”. They were taken to a nearby hospital immediately for medical aid, the FIR added.

The second FIR was registered under Sections 324 (attempted murder), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 452 (trespassing with an intent to hurt), 436 (mischief by fire or an explosive substance with the intent to destroy a house), 427 (causing damage), 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 153-A (promoting enmity), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the PPC.

Sections of the Punjab Sound Systems Regulation Act, 2015 and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act were also invoked in the FIR.

The cop said that he and other officials were at Fawara Chowk at 9:30am when they heard an announcement over the loudspeaker of a mosque regarding an incident of blasphemy and inciting the people to violence. He said that soon the message spread and citizens started gathering in small groups throughout the city. The official said that in anticipation of a law and order situation, he called for backup.

During this time, between 500-600 people — armed with sticks, canes and rods — gathered in front of the mosque and started shouting slogans. He said that the mob was incited to attack the homes and churches of the Christian community. The official said that the police party tried to stop the mob but they resisted and started forcefully entering homes of the Christian community and setting churches ablaze.

He said that during this time, backup arrived and used tear gas to disperse the violent mob while 29 of them were taken into custody.

How the violence unfolded
Rumours of the alleged blasphemous act had spread like wildfire across Jaranwala on Wednesday after those who had levelled the allegations appro­ached different mosques, from where announcements were made to incite people to show their “reaction” to the incident.

As per local sources, the situation became more volatile when members of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) entered the fray, making public announcements from mosques and other places, riling up people to reach the site of the alleged incident. Soon, a mob gathered outside the house of the two men — who had evacuated by then — and set it on fire, sparking a spate of violent incidents.

Following this incident, people started gathering in Jaranwala town, turning into an enraged mob that allegedly attacked two churches — one Catholic and the other belonging to the Salvation Army. The mob also attacked and burnt a number of Christian homes in two nearby localities, near Chak 127-GB on the main City Road and near Chak 126-GB, Bridge Colony, along Shahrwana Canal — also known as Christian Colony.

Christian community leaders said the mob also torched three other churches and looted valuables from the houses that had been abandoned by their owners, fearing violence.

Jaranwala pastor Imran Bhatti said the mob ransacked and burnt a total of five churches in the area, including the United Presbyterian Church, Allied Foundation Church and Shehroonwala Church situated in Isa Nagri. He said the attackers didn’t even spare a local Christian graveyard, where graves were vandalised and a portion of its boundary wall demolished.

A mob also attacked and ransacked the office of Jaranwala Assistant Commissioner Shaukat Masih, who had already left when the mob arrived.

A group of protesters also blocked Faisalabad-Abdul Hakeem M-III motorway at the Jaranwala interchange for traffic.