Pakistan Blasphemy Riot: 87 Christian houses, 19 churches were demolished, 128 people arrested for violence

Hundreds of Pakistan’s Christian minorities fled their homes. An angry mob of Muslim men vandalized neighborhoods, torched homes and churches in the city of Jaranwala in Punjab province. Punjab police chief Usman Anwar told AFP the events that unfolded were tragic. Such violence can never be justified. Anwar said he personally interrogated two Christian brothers accused of desecrating the Quran to avoid accusations of torture. Police said they had arrested an additional 128 people linked to the violence, in which 87 homes in Christian neighborhoods were damaged, their contents strewn in the streets.

An angry crowd of hundreds had been ordered to protest by Muslim clerics, who used the mosque’s loudspeakers to spread news of the allegations. Residents of both faiths told AFP that Muslims living in the predominantly Christian area sheltered their neighbors and pasted Quranic verses on the doors of Christian homes to protect them from being targeted.

Anwar said on Friday that 3,200 churches were guarded by the police in Punjab province to assure the Christian community, adding that he would travel to Jaranwala on Sunday to show solidarity with the Christian community. Government and religious leaders have called for peace. Christian groups have held several smaller protests across the country demanding more security.