Hundreds Of Pakistan Christians Flee Homes
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ISLAMABAD (Worthy News) – Hundreds of Christians near Pakistan’s capital fled their homes Friday amid fears that Muslim mobs would attack their homes and churches following Friday prayers, Christians told Worthy News.
“Almost all Christians of a Christian colony in the city of Rawalpindi, which is adjacent to [the capital] Islamabad, have left,” prominent human rights activist Farrukh Saif told Worthy News.
They “hurriedly vacated their homes overnight due to credible fears of a mob attack,” added Saif, co-founder of the Emergency Committee to Save the Persecuted and Enslaved (ECSPE).
Fears of a potential assault came over a week after residents said thousands of Muslims, led by local clerics, attacked more than a dozen churches and many homes in the city of Jaranwala in Faisalabad industrial district.
Elsewhere, a Muslim entrepreneur was shot and killed for publicly expressing support for the Jaranwala Christians, added Saif, who investigated the case.
He said Malik Ejaz, in the city of Kot Abdul Malik in Sheikhupura District, was killed on August 18 by a Muslim mob who also ransacked his house. They were outraged after Ejaz wondered on his Facebook website page why Muslims were angry as they and Christians both anticipate “the second coming” of Jesus. However, Muslims only view Him as a prophet.
CHRISTIAN ATTACKED
Separately, Worthy News obtained footage of Ashan Boota, a Christian resident from a village on the outskirts of the city of Sahiwal, who was beaten up by men carrying rods watched by shouting residents nearby.
Ashan Boota “inadvertently shared a blasphemous letter” this month twice online and has since been arrested by police pending trial, Saif said.
With growing tensions, there were fears around the capital of more attacks, even though caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar said minorities “had to be protected at all costs” in his Islamic nation.
He promised to take action against those involved in the August 16 violence in Jaranwala, with his government pledging 2 million rupees ($6,800) for Christians who suffered in the attacks.
It was not immediately clear if and when all those affected by the violence would receive the compensation.
Many of the hundreds of Christians who fled their houses were believed to remain reluctant to return home on Friday.
Back in Rawalpindi, there were no indications all Christians would return to a Christian colony there as they, too, demanded protection from authorities.
BROADER CONCERNS
The tensions highlighted broader concerns about Pakistan’s blasphemy legislation that experts say fueled attacks and extrajudicial killings.
Hundreds of people, many of them Christians, languish in Pakistani prisons on trumped-up blasphemy charges for years as judges are reluctant to rule due to fears of angry mobs, activists say.
Saif said studies showed that between 1947 and 2021, there were 89 documented instances of attacks “resulting in fatalities linked to blasphemy allegations.”
This year alone, between January and May, 57 blasphemy cases were reportedly recorded in Pakistan, most of them in Punjab province. “The surge in blasphemy cases” contributed to “the rise in violence against religious minorities,” Saif suggested.
“Repealing or reforming the blasphemy laws is an essential step toward ensuring the safety and rights of all individuals in the country,” he added.
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