A Pakistani police spokesman said on Friday that it had arrested two Christians on charges of mocking Islam and desecrating the Holy Qur’an in the east of the country, two days after a mob of Muslims burned churches and homes in a Christian residential area in retaliation.
Paramilitary forces are guarding the residential compound in the eastern part of the country after the crowd destroyed a main church and at least 4 chapels and set dozens of homes on fire.
The penalty for desecration of the Holy Qur’an in Pakistan is death, and although no one was ever executed, many of the accused were executed by angry mobs.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar said on Friday that minorities must be protected at any cost and vowed to take action against those involved in the violence.
“There will be no favouritism, and there will be no fear,” he said in the first cabinet meeting televised live.
Police said they have so far arrested 128 people involved in the attack on the Christian community in Jaranwala in Faisalabad’s industrial area on Wednesday.
Rights groups say accusations of “blasphemy” are also misused to settle scores. Judges also say that hundreds of people are being held in prison after being accused of blasphemy, as judges often postpone trials for fear of reprisals if their sentences are deemed too lenient by the public.
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2023-08-18 11:48:15
