Blasphemy claims triggered mob violence. Can Pakistan move forward?

In the Christian neighborhood of Issa Nagri lie the ruins of a once thriving church – one of more than a dozen that were targeted after rumors spread that a couple of Christian residents in Jaranwala, Pakistan, had defaced the Holy Quran.

On the morning of Aug. 16, an incensed mob wreaked havoc on the building and the adjoining courtyard. Hundreds of Muslim men knocked down the walls, desecrated the nave, burned copies of the Bible, and set fire to the furniture.

“The violence started in a different neighborhood,” recalls resident Rashid Javed. “When people found out what was happening, they started evacuating the area.” Some hid in fields or factories; others fled to relatives’ homes.

When the mob arrived in Issa Nagri, rioters began to loot the abandoned houses. “They stole the fan in my house,” says Pervez Masih. “My daughter-in-law had 1.5 tola [approximately 18 grams] of jewelry, and they took that as well.”

Non-Muslims make up around 3.5% of Pakistan’s predominantly Sunni Muslim population, and though the country was envisioned by its founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah as a secular state, it has frequently been accused of majoritarianism. Experts say the state’s policies have allowed intolerance to flourish, creating a powder keg for violence. Now religious minorities and their advocates are demanding accountability, while calling on their fellow citizens to resist division.

“The first thing that needs to happen is for Muslim and Christian leaders to sit together and to dissolve the hatred between these two communities,” says Maulana Imran Qadri, a local faith leader who gave sanctuary to two Christian women and made several attempts to pacify the mob. “The people who committed this act violated the principles of Islam. ... Our Prophet said that it was incumbent upon all Muslims to protect Christian places of worship till the end of time. If you’re willing to give your lives to defend the honor of the Prophet, you must also be willing to defend his teachings.”

More than 160 Muslims have been arrested by police as well as the two Christian men who allegedly committed blasphemy.

Under Pakistan’s penal code, blasphemy is punishable by death. Though no one has ever been executed, vigilante mobs like the one in Jaranwala have murdered several people accused of disrespecting the Islamic faith. Earlier this month, Abdul Rauf, a Muslim English teacher, was gunned down in Turbat after his students accused him of blaspheming in one of his lectures.

“Religious intolerance in Pakistan has witnessed an unfortunate increase due to a combination of factors,” says Malaika Raza, the general secretary for human rights of the Pakistan People’s Party. “The rise of extremist ideologies, weaponization of blasphemy laws, growing income inequalities, political and social unrest have contributed to a climate where differing religious beliefs are met with hostility.”

Many trace the problem back to the late 1970s, when the administration of military dictator Gen. Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq embarked on a policy of Islamization. Having persecuted and hanged a secular political leader in Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, General Zia consolidated his grip on power by re-imagining the state according to his interpretation of Islamic teachings. This included the establishment of Shariat courts, the introduction of punishments for immorality, and the promotion of religious conservatism in schools and universities.

According to feminist scholar Farzana Bari, these policies, coupled with the Pakistani state’s support for the Afghan mujahedeen during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, created an “ecosystem of intolerance.”

“During the Cold War era, the state used religiosity to create a jihadi mindset,” she says. “They used madrassas [religious schools] and the education system to create a way of thinking that was both sectarian and fundamentalist.”  

More recently, critics have accused Pakistan’s military establishment of using hard-line religious groups to pressure politicians and human rights activists. 

“Religious bigots are given a free hand and even encouraged by the state to act with impunity,” says left-wing historian Ammar Ali Jan. “The result is that [religion] is becoming the only vehicle for popular mobilization. You protest for human rights, you get arrested immediately. You create an anti-minority mob, and the state vanishes.”

But Murtaza Solangi – who is serving as the minister of information and broadcasting in the caretaker government – affirms caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar’s commitment to tackling religious extremism. 

“The prime minister’s vision is that Pakistan was created due to the fear of a Hindu majoritarian state, to protect the then-Muslim minority groups of India. Anti-majoritarianism is the essence of Pakistan,” he says. The prime minister “said that our state shall stand by the weak, vulnerable, marginalized.”

On Monday, authorities distributed 2 million rupees ($6,800) each to around 100 Christian families whose houses had been attacked last week. A day earlier, the caretaker chief minister of Punjab assured Jaranwala’s Christian community that the government would restore the damaged churches to their original condition. 

However, survivors say financial compensation is not sufficient justice. “We want assurances that this sort of incident will never happen again,” says Christian resident Tehmina David. “Our holy book tells us to forgive those who do not know what they do, but it’s becoming very difficult to live in this version of Pakistan.”

“For Christians like us, this sort of incident is a form of torture,” says Pastor Jamil, a relief worker who came from Karachi to distribute aid. “What’s happening here is like dying every day.” 

If there is any consolation, it is in the strong public response to the events in Jaranwala. Faith leaders and politicians have roundly condemned the attacks and expressed solidarity with the Christian community. On Saturday, International Interfaith Harmony Council President Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi described the violence in Jaranwala as an attack on all Pakistanis. 

“The rioters have shamed us for which I apologize to Christians all over the world including those in Pakistan,” he said. “I was traveling when I saw the images of Christian daughters spending the night in the fields. My eyes filled with tears because I felt that these were ... my own daughters.”

There have also been reports of Muslims in Jaranwala coming to the aid of Christian neighbors. 

“Our Muslim brothers and sisters have stood by us,” says Lubna, a local Christian woman who declined to give her surname. “There were Muslims who came and burned down our homes and Muslims who came to save our lives. Not everyone is the same.”