A new incident of anti-Christian persecution erupted in Pakistan after rumours began circulating of Christians desecrating the Quran.

By ACN Staff

According to local witnesses contacted by ACN, and to images from the location circulating on social media, a Muslim mob has attacked and ransacked churches and homes in the Christian settlement in Jaranwala, a town in the district of Faisalabad.

The arrival of firefighters and of police did not dissuade the attackers, who continued to destroy property, throwing furniture out into the streets and setting fire to churches and homes, while calling for the murder of the alleged blasphemers.

“Please pray for our people, they have left their houses and gone, but they are destroying, houses and churches”, said a local priest, contacted by ACN.

“Even the parish house doors were broken, and they got into the archive room and burnt and destroyed everything”, he added.

Despite the widespread destruction and shock caused by the incident, there is currently no indication of victims among Christians, who seem to have been able to flee the scene.

Christians are a tiny minority in Pakistan, and often subjected to bouts of persecution by mobs. Blasphemy charges are often invoked in these situations, although they generally turn out to be false and baseless.

According to Aid to the Church in Need’s 2023 Religious Freedom Report, “over 49 percent of blasphemy cases touch minorities who represent only 3.5 percent of the Pakistani population. Minorities are also overrepresented in blasphemy-related murders and other forms of violence.”

The report ranked Pakistan as a red country, meaning it is one of the most worrying in terms of lack of religious freedom, concluding that the situation has worsened since the previous report was published.