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☆ 'The fear is not going away': Christians in Pakistan afraid to return home
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Charlotte Greenfield | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"Today was the first day of school after summer vacations but I did not send them because of fear," said their mother, Kiran. But community members and advocates say the trauma and fear will be tough to heal and their safety is not assured. Many are afraid to return home but, still in shock, do not know where to rebuild their lives. A few streets away about 240 people live in the makeshift shelter in the school along with Kanwal's family. The fear that has got embedded in my heart and my children's minds is just not going away."

Persons: Samuel, Kanwal, cradling Samuel, Kiran, Haq Kakar, Naseem Anthony, Anthony, Akmal Bhatti, Charlotte Greenfield, Mubasher Bukhari, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: Pakistan's, Police, Thomson Locations: Kanwal, Jaranwala, Faisalabad, Pakistan, Punjab, Provincial

☆ Pakistani police arrest two Christians accused of blasphemy
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Mubasher Bukhari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Members of the Christian community chant slogans as they hold banner to condemn the attacks on churches and houses in Jaranwala town of Faisalabad, during a protest in Peshawar, Pakistan August 17, 2023. REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz Acquire Licensing RightsLahore, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Police have arrested two Christians accused of blasphemy in eastern Pakistan, a spokesperson said on Friday, two days after a Muslim mob burnt churches and houses in a Christian settlement, accusing the two men of desecrating the Koran. Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan and though no one has ever been executed, numerous accused people have been lynched by outraged mobs. The police said it has so far rounded up 128 people involved in the attack on the Christian community in Jaranwala in the industrial district of the city of Faisalabad on Wednesday. Reporting by Mubasher Bukhari; Editing by Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Fayaz Aziz, Mubasher Bukhari, Kim Coghill Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Police, Thomson Locations: Jaranwala, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Pakistan

CNN —Authorities in Pakistan’s Punjab province have arrested more than 100 people after crowds descended on churches and set them on fire on Wednesday, raising concerns over the discrimination faced by religious minorities in the country. At least 17 churches have been vandalized since Wednesday, according to the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), a Pakistani government body. The attacks took place after a Christian man was accused of committing blasphemy and desecrating the Quran. “According to NCHR inquiry, 17 Churches in #Jaranwala have been targeted. 12 registered churches and 5 smaller, unregistered churches,” NCHR posted on X, previously known as Twitter, on Thursday.

Persons: ” NCHR, Anwaar, Haq Kakar, “, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, ” Baloch, Riina Kionka, Prophet Mohammed, Asia Bibi Organizations: CNN, Authorities, National Commission for Human Rights, ” Ministry of Foreign, ” Police, PM, European Union Locations: Pakistan’s Punjab, Pakistani, Jaranwala, Punjab, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan, EU, Lahore’s Badami Bagh

The rioters were demanding that the two accused men, who had fled their homes, be handed over to them. The troops have cordoned off the Christian colony, blocking all entry and exit points with barbed wire, according to a Reuters TV cameraman. Hundreds of Christians took refuge in a nearby district, a community leader Akmal Bhatti told Reuters, adding that four pastors had returned to the churches, which were still smouldering. "It is the government's responsibility to compensate for the loss of property of the Christian community," he told reporters, adding the government was estimating the losses. The United States was "deeply concerned that churches and homes were targeted," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Wednesday.

Persons: Christian, Akmal Bhatti, Bhatti, Mohsi Naqvi, Vedant Patel, Asif Shahzad, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Simon Cameron, Moore, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: Police, Reuters, Amnesty, State Department, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: LAHORE, Pakistan, Jaranwala, Faisalabad, United States, Islamabad

☆ Troops deployed to guard Pakistani Christians after mob torches churches
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Mubasher Bukhari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The rioters were demanding that the two accused, who had fled their homes, be handed over to them. The residents said thousands of Muslims led by local clerics were carrying iron rods, sticks, knives and daggers during the rioting. A provincial government statement said paramilitary troops were deployed to aid the police to control the situation. The troops have cordoned off the Christian colony, blocking all entry and exit points with barbed wire, according to a Reuters TV cameraman. The United States was "deeply concerned that churches and homes were targeted," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Wednesday.

Persons: Vedant Patel, Asif Shahzad, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Police, Reuters, State Department, Thomson Locations: LAHORE, Pakistan, desecrating, Jaranwala, Faisalabad, United States

The two Christians were accused of blasphemy, he said, adding they and family members had fled their homes. Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan and though no one has ever been executed for it, numerous accused people have been lynched by outraged crowds. 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. Several social media posts showed some churches, houses and belongings on fire as police stood by. The mob was made up of thousands of people led by local clerics, mainly from an Islamist political party called Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), a government source said.

Persons: Naveed Ahmad, Shakil Masih, Usman Anwar, Anwar ul Haq Kakar, Akmal Bhatti, Asif Shahzad, Angus MacSwan, Nick Macfie Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS, REUTERS Acquire, Caretaker, Thomson Locations: LAHORE, Pakistan, Jaranwala, Faisalabad, Islamabad

CNN —A crowd vandalized eight churches and several homes following accusations of blasphemy against Islam in Pakistan’s most populated province of Punjab on Wednesday, according to government authorities and residents, stoking tensions between local Muslim and minority Christian communities. Multiple churches including the town’s Catholic Church, the Salvation Army Church and the Pentecostal Church, as well as the local Christian colony, were also vandalized and set on fire, Talib told CNN. Religious minorities in Pakistan are vulnerable to persecution under the country's strict blasphemy laws. Pakistan is among the countries where blasphemy is a crime punishable by the death sentence. Three years earlier, a mother of five from Punjab was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to hang, after she was accused of defiling the name of the Prophet Mohammed.

Persons: “, Prophet Mohammed, ”, Yasir Talib, Talib, Ghazanfar Majidi, ” Pakistan’s, Anwaar, Haq Kakar, Bishop, Church of Pakistan Azad Marshall, ” Marshall, ” Riina Kionka, Asia Bibi Organizations: CNN, National Commission for Human Rights, Centre for Social Justice, Catholic Church, Salvation Army Church, Pentecostal Church, Police, . District Police, AP People, Getty, Church of, European Union Locations: Pakistan’s, Punjab, Jaranwala, Pakistani, Faisalabad, Wednesday, Pakistan, AFP, Church of Pakistan, EU, Lahore’s Badami Bagh

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