Following a riot over “blasphemy,” Pakistani police patrol Christian neighbourhood

After hundreds of people escaped a Muslim mob that ran amok through the streets over suspected blasphemy on Thursday, police in Pakistan stood watch over a Christian community.

In Jaranwala, which lies on the outskirts of the industrial city of Faisalabad, a group of hundreds of people tore through the streets on Wednesday, burning and pillaging homes and churches.

Prior to this, authorities said they were looking for two Christian brothers who had soiled the Quran.

Late on Thursday, Mohsin Naqvi, Punjab’s acting chief minister, said that the “main accused” had been taken into custody without offering any other information.

According to police, more than 120 people have been detained in connection with the incident.

“Young people, ladies, and seniors were running. Some were escaping in rickshaws while others were running barefoot. One of the few Christians who had returned to assess the damage, Pastor Javed Bhatti, remarked that there was confusion everywhere.

Muslim clerics used mosque loudspeakers to announce the claims before ordering the people to demonstrate.

According to an AFP crew on the site, at least four churches, twelve homes and businesses, and their shattered goods were burnt and plundered.

Residents of both religions told AFP that Muslims in the largely Christian neighbourhood provided refuge for their neighbours and nailed Quranic passages to Christian homes’ doors to shield them from harm.

Hundreds of people, according to locals, have left the neighbourhood to stay with relatives and have not yet returned out of concern.

Fayaz Masih Khokhar, a Christian who went from neighbouring Lahore to demonstrate support for the community, told AFP that “all the Christians have left their homes and taken refuge here and there.”

Government representatives denounced the violence on Thursday, and minor demonstrations appealing for the protection of Christians were staged in a number of locations.

According to a statement by the Bishop of Lahore, Nadeem Kamran, “the current sad situation in the country demands that the leadership and religious figures of all religions and faiths play their key and fundamental role in safeguarding national unity.”

The interim head of Punjab, Naqvi, showed support for Christians by saying that their losses will be covered.

A report on the violence will be released by the provincial administration.

One of the lowest rungs of Pakistani society is occupied by Christians, who account for about two percent of the country’s population and are regularly the victim of fictitious blasphemy accusations.

Even unverified accusations of offending Islam and its Prophet Mohammed can result in murder at the hands of vigilantes in Pakistan, a country with a Muslim majority and a profoundly conservative culture.

Islamist right-wing politicians and leaders regularly band together to support the cause throughout Pakistan.

Lawyers, politicians, and students have all been killed on blasphemy-related charges.

According to the Pakistani Human Rights Commission, “the frequency and scale of such attacks, which are systematic, violent, and frequently uncontainable, appear to have increased in recent years.”

Not only has the government failed to safeguard its religious minority, but it has also let the extreme right to infiltrate and fester in both politics and society.

The Christian lady Asia Bibi was at the focus of one of Pakistan’s most well-known blasphemy trials, which lasted 10 years before her death sentence was reversed and resulted in her leaving the country.

Her case brought religious fundamentalism to light and provoked violent protests and high-profile killings while also affecting large swaths of Pakistani society.

On Wednesday, Washington expressed concern about the most recent strikes and asked Pakistan to begin an inquiry.

Although the US supported free speech, “violence or the threat of violence is never an acceptable form of expression,” according to Vedant Patel, a spokeswoman for the US State Department.

Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, Pakistan’s recently appointed interim prime minister, declared on X, a website formerly known as Twitter, that “stern action would be taken against those who violate the law and target minorities.”