Dozens of Christian families have returned to their homes in the past 24 hours in the Christian neighborhood of Jaranwala in eastern Pakistan. Residents are still in shock after violence erupted over blasphemy charges. On August 16, hundreds of Muslims stormed the streets of this Christian neighborhood, looting and setting fire to several churches and dozens of homes.
3 mins
In total, eighty-seven Christian homes and nineteen churches were vandalized this week in this city of Pakistani Punjab, during riots linked to accusations of blasphemy, police said Friday August 18 to AFP . “ The events that have unfolded are tragic. Such violence can never be justified said Usman Anwar, the provincial police chief for Punjab state in eastern Pakistan.
An investigation is underway against a dozen people who incited Muslims on Wednesday to demonstrate against Christians accused of blasphemy in this city, said a senior police official. More than 125 people were arrested in connection with the acts of vandalism. ” Photos and videos of burned Quran pages were shared among locals, sparking uproar “, had explained the local authorities. Up to 5,000 people from other neighborhoods had flocked to the Jaranwala district, infiltrating the narrow alleys and ransacking houses.
Now in front of the church in the heart of the Christian quarter of Jaranwala: cries of rage and despair. The walls of the building are charred, the windows, the door are nothing more than gaping holes. The cross disappeared, in pieces, somewhere in the middle of the destroyed and burned furniture lying in the alley, reports our correspondent in Islamabad, Sonia Ghezali.
Christian inhabitants who no longer feel safe
Around the church, several houses are charred. Saima, a resident of the neighborhood, is still in shock. She wanders around her house, where the ashes are still smoldering: “ We are no longer safe here. If we had stayed in our homes, our children, our family, we would all have been burned down like this house, we would only be ashes. We survived because we fled. »
Despite the police deployed around the neighborhood, she is afraid, like her brother Shirzad: “ We no longer feel safe in Pakistan. We want the government to send us to another country where we can live without constant fear. The mere sound of a bird flying overhead makes us jump, we fear that every moment an angry mob will try to kill us. An appeal launched to the government by several inhabitants of this disaster-stricken district.
The Christians accuse the police of not having protected the property of the inhabitants. Christians, who make up about 2% of the population, occupy one of the lowest rungs of Pakistani society and are frequent targets of spurious and unfounded blasphemy allegations.
Read alsoPakistan: several churches burnt down in the east of the country after an alleged desecration of the Koran
(and with AFP)