More than 80 Christian homes, 19 churches vandalised; Pakistani brothers arrested for blasphemy riots

NEW DELHI: Pakistani police have arrested two Christian brothers accused of blasphemy two days after a Muslim mob burnt churches and houses, blaming the two men for desecrating the Quran.
Meanwhile, police have taken into custody more than 129 individuals from the Muslim community who were involved in violent acts against Christians. This comes after the caretaker PM Anwaarul-ul-Haq Kakar had ordered police to swiftly arrest the rioters.
This comes two days after violence targeting Pakistan’s Christian community resulted in the destruction of over 80 Christian homes and 19 churches and household items.
While there were no reported casualties from the violence, numerous Christians had to flee as mobs rampaged their homes.
According to the residents, the violence by thousands of Muslims led by local clerics continued for 10 hours without police intervention.
On Friday, 3,200 churches were guarded by police across Punjab province to provide reassurance to the Christian community.

Christians, who make up around two percent of the population, occupy one of the lowest rungs in Pakistani society and are frequently targeted with spurious blasphemy allegations.
The violence was instigated after videos and photos of alleged Quran desecration went viral on social media. Subsequently, videos spread across social media featuring Muslim leaders and clerics calling for unity and demonstration against the alleged desecration.

The pages of the Quran found on the street by the police with derogatory remarks also had an extra page attached to it which carried names, addresses and national identity card numbers of the accused. The angle of why this has been attached is yet to be investigated by the police.
Residents have started returning to their homes as the military was deployed to bring the situation under control and arrests were made.
Under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, insulting Islam or Islamic religious figures can carry a death sentence for the accused.
The accusations have in many instances incited violence, lynchings and assassination of the person accused of blasphemy.
It has invited condemnation from numerous domestic and international human rights groups who have noted that this law has often been used to intimidate minorities in the country.