A Christian leader, Akmal Bhatti, said the crowd had torched at least five churches and looted valuables from houses that had been abandoned by their owners after clerics made announcements in mosques inciting the mob.
Images on social media showed smoke rising from the church buildings and people setting fire to furniture that had been dragged from them.Dozens of people also blocked a nearby highway.
Multiple churches in Faisalabad’s Jaranwala were vandalised on Wednesday. — Photo by author
Jaranwala pastor Imran Bhatti told Dawn.com that the ransacked churches included the Salvation Army Church, United Presbyterian Church, Allied Foundation Church and Shehroonwala Church situated in the Isa Nagri area.
He added that the mob also demolished the house of a Christian cleaner, accused of blasphemy.
Meanwhile, the police registered a first information report against the accused under sections 295B (defiling, etc., of the Holy Quran) and 295C (use of derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Speaking to Dawn.com, Punjab police chief Usman Anwar said the police were negotiating with the protesters and the area had been cordoned off.
“There are narrow lanes [in the area] in which small two to three marla churches are located and there is one main church … they have vandalised portions of the churches,” he said.
The official stated that efforts were under way to contain the situation by engaging with peace committees and police across the province had been activated.
“The assistant commissioner of the area, a member of the Christian community, has also been evacuated after people turned against him,” Anwar added.On the other hand, Christian leaders alleged that the police remained silent spectators.
Separately, Punjab Home Department spokesperson Amjad Kalyar confirmed that a request seeking the deployment of Rangers in the area had been sent to the department, but a decision was yet to be taken on it.
Later in the evening, newly-appointed interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar said stern action would be taken against those who violate the law and target minorities.
“All law enforcement has been asked to apprehend culprits and bring them to justice,” he said on X (formerly Twitter), assuring that the government stood with “our citizenry on equal basis”.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) earlier, President Bishop of the Church of Pakistan Azad Marshall said that Bibles had been desecrated and Christians were tortured and harassed “having been falsely accused of violating the Holy Quran”.
“We cry out for justice and action from law enforcement and those who dispense justice and the safety of all citizens to intervene immediately and assure us that our lives are valuable in our own homeland that has just celebrated independence and freedom,” he demanded.
Bishop Marshall added that all priests, bishops and lay people were “deeply pained and distressed” at the incident.
Former interior minister Rana Sanaullah strongly condemned the “dastardly attack” and stressed that the culprits should be brought to justice at the earliest.
“Extremism and hatred nullify the fundamental principles of Islam,” he tweeted.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said he was horrified to hear about today’s attack, asserting that violating the sanctity of worship places was “absolutely unacceptable”.
“The administration must ensure the safety of the Christian community and their churches,” he highlighted.
PPP leader and ex-climate change minister Sherry Rehman said the incident was “tragic, terrible, reprehensible on so many levels”.“Pakistan’s non-Muslim citizens are entitled to the same justice, protections and rights we all are.
“Our religion, our constitution finds no space for such violent exclusions and desecrations of what any community holds sacred,” she said.
Former senator Afrasiab Khattak condemned the incident and demanded that the culprits should be brought to book.
“Pakistani state has failed to provide security to the worship places of people who follow religions other than Islam. Impunity to the crimes committed in the name of religion has emboldened extremists and terrorists,” he added.
Balochistan Senator Sarfaraz Bughti also called on the Punjab government to enforce its full might to protect churches and Christian hope.
“We, as a Pakistani, can’t allow the madness happening in Jaranwala,” he said on X. “We have a responsibility toward the minorities in our country, and we couldn’t let the crisis worsen any further!” Bughti added.
Former human rights minister and ex-PTI leader Shireen Mazari termed the incident “absolutely shameful and condemnable”.