Christian Churches Vandalized and Burned Down by Muslim Mobs in Pakistan

Angry Muslim mobs in Pakistan attacked and burned down several Christian churches in Jaranwala, Faisalabad, after accusing two Christian brothers of desecrating the Quran and of blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad.

Videos have been circulated on social media showing announcements from mosques inciting Muslims. After hearing the announcements on the morning of August 16, 2023, thousands of Muslims gathered at a mosque near Cinema Chowk and then attacked multiple churches and Christian homes and desecrated Bibles. Hundreds of Christians fled their homes for their lives. Over a dozen churches were vandalized and burned down. The churches that were burned down belonged to several denominations, including Presbyterian, the Salvation Army, Catholic, and Pentecostal, among others.

Pictures and videos are widely circulating showing the mob chanting slogans and setting the churches on fire. In one video, a man is seen making an announcement over a loudspeaker, “Christians from a nearby Christian neighborhood had desecrated the Quran. All Muslims and Muslim clerics should gather at the mosque. You are eating your breakfast. What kind of Muslims are you? . . .”

Another video shows a man inciting the gathered mob and the mob chanting slogans. A third video shows a police officer trying to calm the mob down, stating he had ordered the arrest of the Christians accused of desecrating the Quran, they would be arrested, and the court would punish them. The mob responded in disagreement: “We will punish them.”

A police report has been filed against Raja Amir Saleem and Rocky Saleem, the Christian brothers. According to the report, the Saleem brothers had allegedly desecrated the Quran and said blasphemous words about the Prophet Muhammad. Pages of the Quran, which allegedly contained handwritten words with a red pen, were given to the police as evidence. The Saleem brothers have denied desecrating the Quran.

The police report was filed under sections 295-B and 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code. Section 295-B punishes any willful desecration of the Quran with mandatory life imprisonment, and section 295-C punishes blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad with the mandatory death penalty.

This was not an isolated incident. Over the past three decades, many churches and Christian neighborhoods have been attacked and destroyed, and dozens of people have been murdered over false allegations of blasphemy in Pakistan.

In fact, we are representing multiple Christians facing execution by hanging on false accusations of blasphemy, including Shahzad Masih, who was just 16 years old when he was first arrested. Christians face these kinds of false accusations on a regular basis.

Last month, the U.N. Human Rights Council passed a resolution against the Quran-burning incident in Sweden. Ironically, Pakistan, the country that vigorously presented the resolution against the Quran burning on behalf of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, a group of Islamic countries, would not stop angry mobs from attacking, vandalizing, and burning down Christian churches and Bibles.

ACLJ attorneys were present in the room at the United Nations last month when the resolution presented by Pakistan against the Quran burning in Sweden was being debated and voted on. We urged Pakistani authorities to protect Christian churches, Bibles, and innocent Christians with the same vigor as they protect the Quran. Churches and Bibles, like other holy books and places of worship, are also worthy of respect and protection.

We are actively working to demand that Pakistan punish the perpetrators who burned the churches and the Bibles with the same vigor that it seeks to punish someone who burns the Quran. We have yet to see any resolution presented and adopted at the United Nations against attacking innocent Christians and their churches and Bibles like the one adopted against the Quran-burning incident in Sweden.

The ACLJ is dispatching a team from its affiliate office in Pakistan to investigate the incident and offer assistance to the Christian community in Jaranwala, Faisalabad. We will keep you updated as this dire situation unfolds.