Angry Muslim Crowds Try To Attack Pakistan Christians
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
SARGODHA, PAKISTAN (Worthy News) – Muslim crowds threatened Sunday to attack thousands of Christians in a predominantly Christian town in Pakistan’s Punjab province for alleged blasphemy against Islam.
Clerics and other Muslims rallied against Christian believers in Maryam Town in Punjab’s Sargodha District, according to video footage obtained by Worthy News.
A police officer could be seen promising noisy demonstrators that the “perpetrators of blasphemy would be arrested.”
Advocate Farooq Bashir, the president of Pakistan’s Christian Lawyers Association, told Worthy News that as many as “thousands of Muslims” participated in the protest.
He noticed that police had “cordoned off the Christian locality Maryam Town” after police launched a criminal case following a local cleric’s complaint about alleged blasphemers.
The cleric filed a First Information Report (FIR), a written document prepared by Pakistani police about an alleged offense, Worthy News learned. Authorities did not immediately provide more details about the suspects and their alleged anti-Islamic writings.
Blasphemy against Islam or its Prophet Muhammad potentially carries the death penalty under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws.
CLERIC TO POLICE
“The cleric went to the police after blasphemous content was written on a paper placed at the wall near the main door of his house,” Bashir recalled. He saw the paper when he “arrived home following his morning prayer at his mosque,” the lawyer explained.
“As news spread, locals started expressing doubts about the area’s Christians as it was written that the writer of the paper’s content is a resident of the Christian Maryam Town,” Bashir explained. “Now the Muslim community is against Christian believers, and they are trying to attack Christians,” he added.
Several Christians have been jailed under Pakistan’s current blasphemy legislation, despite international protests.
The law encouraged scores of extrajudicial killings of Christians and others accused of blasphemy in recent years, critics say. Additionally, ongoing attacks prompted thousands of Christians to leave their homes, with many fleeing the Islamic Asian nation, Worthy News established.
Bashir suggested that the latest blasphemy allegations could be a pretext for unprovoked attacks against the 3,000 Christian families in Maryam Town. “It is therefore important to promote understanding, tolerance, and respect among different religious communities.”
He urged local authorities and police in Maryam Town “to maintain law and order, ensure the safety of all residents, and address any concerns or grievances through peaceful means.”
Bashir, who assisted Christians accused of blasphemy, stressed, “It would be advisable for the affected parties to communicate with the local police and authorities to ensure a peaceful resolution and to prevent any escalation of tensions.”
He added, “Violence or discrimination based on religious beliefs is unfortunate and goes against the principles of coexistence and harmony” in Pakistan. Christians comprise almost 2 percent of the nation’s 248 million mainly Muslim population, according to Christian researchers.
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