(Worthy News) - Church leaders in Pakistan have petitioned the Lahore High Court for a “thorough and transparent” independent judicial investigation after police illegally arrested Christians instead of the Muslim perpetrators of violent anti-Christian riots which took place in Faisalabad District last month, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
Riots broke out in Jaranwala, Faisalabad District on August 16 after two Christian brothers were publicly accused of blasphemy against Islam, MSN reports. The rioters were Muslims incited by the hard-line Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). “Multiple churches were set on fire and homes and businesses of Christians were ransacked for hours while police were silent spectators, triggering condemnation across the world,” MSN said in its report.
In a statement hotly disputed by Christians, Punjab Police Inspector General (IG) Usman Anwar said in a press statement that the riots in Jaranwala and desecration of the Koran in Sargodha on Aug. 19-20 were the result of a conspiracy by Indian officials to draw attention away from India’s own mistreatment of Christians, MSN reports.
Lambasting the police chief’s assertion, Church of Pakistan President Bishop Azad Marshall told Morning Star News: “Instead of investigating the underlying reasons of such attacks and addressing the root cause, i.e. misuse of the harsh blasphemy laws, the police are arresting and harassing innocent Christians and trying to cover up the truth behind the violent attacks in Jaranwala by blaming foreign intelligence. The Jaranwala incident could have been prevented if appropriate steps were taken from the attacks in Shantinagar, Gojra and Joseph Colony, etc., but it seems our state apparatus isn’t interested in addressing the root cause that leads to such senseless violence.”
“We hope the Lahore High Court will admit our petition and form a judicial commission for a thorough and transparent investigation of the incident,” Marshall said.“We do not trust the joint investigation teams formed by the government, as the police chief’s press conference has laid bare the government’s intention to sweep the facts under the rug. This attitude is unacceptable to Christians.”
Ruled by Islamic authoritarians with notoriously harsh blasphemy laws, Pakistan ranks 7th on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.