MUMBAI – An angry Muslim mob attacking a Christian in north-central Pakistan on May 25 after accusing the man of desecrating the Quran marks a “dark day” for the country’s Christian community, Pakistan’s top Catholic official said.
“I strongly condemn this incident. It is a dark day for the Church in Pakistan,” said Bishop Samson Shukaruddin of Hyderabad, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan. core In the aftermath of the attack.
“Without knowing or investigating [the accusation regarding the Quran]”The mob attacked a 74-year-old Christian man,” Shkardin said. “Christians are very disappointed and scared.”
Many observers have long complained that Pakistan’s controversial anti-blasphemy laws fuel such violent incidents, but Shukardin said the church is not calling for the repeal of those laws, but rather for them to be applied appropriately.
“Many Muslims are condemning this incident. There are many good Muslims, but the majority are attacking mere allegations,” he said. “Many of the complaints are based on fabricated evidence and the real reason is personal vendettas or gain.”
“One of the reasons for these attacks is jealousy over the economic development of Christians,” Shkaruddin said. “They are using the law against Christians to compete in jobs. Christians are afraid to start or open businesses because Muslims will not accept it.”
Shkardin also credited local police for intervening and preventing a fatal accident.
Hundreds of Muslims took part in riots in Sargodha, Pakistan’s Punjab province, on Saturday, local observers said, that began with an accusation that Christians had desecrated Islamic scriptures and escalated into an attack that burned down his shoe factory.
Sargodha Police Chief Sariq Khan said officers had rescued at least five people from the rioters, but that stones and bricks were hurled at officers during the melee, local media reported.
A police spokesman said the violence was now under control and that police were investigating the allegations relating to the Quran, which is a crime under Pakistan’s controversial anti-blasphemy laws.
Local sources said at least one Christian man, identified only as Lazar, was seriously injured during the riots and is currently in hospital. In total, around 25 people have been arrested.
“This ugly incident of mob violence has left us Christians very scared because no Christian feels safe in Pakistan,” said Dominican Father James Chanan, who directs a church-run peace center in Lahore, Pakistan.
“Fanatics and members of religious fundamentalist organisations or terrorist groups can easily accuse Christians of blaspheming the Prophet of Islam and desecrating or burning pages of the holy Quran, which will lead to mob violence, burning of homes and churches, assaults and even lynchings of Christians,” Chanan said.
Chanan expressed skepticism that the perpetrators would ever be held legally responsible for their actions.
“The great injustice done to Christians after such horrific attacks is that no one is punished,” he said. “All suspects are released after a few months or years. If justice had been done in the last eight to 10 cases of mob violence, these incidents might not have happened.”
“Revising Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws is a challenge for the government, which are often used to settle personal scores,” Chanan said. “In the case of Christians, it is deplorable that a Christian man or woman is accused of blasphemy and then mobs destroy buildings and churches and kill Christians.”
Channan called on international organisations to pressure the Pakistani government to protect Christians, who make up just under 2 percent of Pakistan’s population of 236 million.
“Pakistani Christians are peace-loving people who are extremely loyal to their country and have made immense contributions to the stability of Pakistan, especially in the areas of healthcare, education and social development,” he said.
Shkardin said: core It said two smaller incidents of alleged blasphemy occurred in other parts of Pakistan the same day, including one case of stoning at a church, and called the reports “alarming”.
