Lahore, August 02: Paramilitary troops patrolled the streets of an eastern Pakistani city on Sunday after eight Christians died in riots led by Muslims, according to police.
Hundreds of Muslims burned and looted Christian homes in the city of Gorja in a rampage sparked by allegations that a Quran had been defaced. Shooting broke out, and six people were killed, including a child and four women. Two men wounded by gunfire died in the hospital overnight.
Officials said the riots, which initially began Thursday but had abated before flaring again on Saturday, had been instigated by members of a banned extremist Muslim organization.
Paramilitary troops were sent to Gorja to help police control the situation, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Saturday, amid allegations the police had failed to respond quickly enough to prevent the violence from escalating.
“Usually, Muslims and Christians live together peacefully. There have been some miscreants involved in this incident. We are investigating that,” Malik said.
Christians make up a tiny minority of Pakistan’s predominantly Sunni Muslim population of 160 million people. Although the two communities generally live peacefully, Muslim radicals have periodically targeted churches and Christians.
Minorities also face intimidation at the hands of discriminatory laws, including one that carries the death penalty for using derogatory language against Islam, the Quran and the Prophet Mohammad. The law is often misused to settle personal scores and rivalries.
Punjab province police chief Tariq Salim Dogar said two men wounded in the riots died overnight, and that 64 people had been arrested under Pakistan’s anti-terrorism laws — 40 who were detained for the initial unrest and another 24 for Saturday’s riots.
Dogar said security had been increased in the area Sunday, when funerals for the dead were expected to be held.
“We have deployed extra police forces in the sensitive area and extensive patrolling is being carried out in the city to avert any other untoward incident,” he said.
Locals and officials said the situation Sunday morning was tense, but there was no renewed unrest.
“There is too much fear among the Christians,” said Provincial Minister for Minority affairs Kamran Michael. “The situation is tense in the city, but security has been enhanced to keep the situation under control.”
Sohail Iqbal, a cell phone shop owner in the city’s main market, said by phone that there was a heavy police presence in the area, and that the paramilitary Rangers were patrolling.
“We have opened our shop and others too, but the atmosphere is grim and tense,” he said.
Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti said 40 Christian homes were torched Saturday in rioting led by the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba group, which is accused of attacks against security forces and of carrying out bombings at public places in recent years. He said there was no truth to allegations that a Quran had been defiled and accused the police of ignoring his appeal to provide protection to Christians under threat.
Television footage showed baton-wielding crowds running through the streets Saturday, blocking traffic and a railway line. Blackened furniture lay outside burning homes, while a group of people rushed a man with burn injuries on a wooden hand-pulled cart through the streets. Gunfire rang out.
On Sunday, local television showed women gathered in Gojra’s Christian neighborhood, crying and wailing in mourning for the dead.
Bureau Report
Lahore: Paramilitary troops patrolled the streets of an eastern Pakistani city on Sunday after eight Christians died in riots led by Muslims, according to police.
Hundreds of Muslims burned and looted Christian homes in the city of Gorja in a rampage sparked by allegations that a Quran had been defaced. Shooting broke out, and six people were killed, including a child and four women. Two men wounded by gunfire died in the hospital overnight.
Officials said the riots, which initially began Thursday but had abated before flaring again on Saturday, had been instigated by members of a banned extremist Muslim organization.
Paramilitary troops were sent to Gorja to help police control the situation, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Saturday, amid allegations the police had failed to respond quickly enough to prevent the violence from escalating.
“Usually, Muslims and Christians live together peacefully. There have been some miscreants involved in this incident. We are investigating that,” Malik said.
Christians make up a tiny minority of Pakistan’s predominantly Sunni Muslim population of 160 million people. Although the two communities generally live peacefully, Muslim radicals have periodically targeted churches and Christians.
Minorities also face intimidation at the hands of discriminatory laws, including one that carries the death penalty for using derogatory language against Islam, the Quran and the Prophet Mohammad. The law is often misused to settle personal scores and rivalries.
Punjab province police chief Tariq Salim Dogar said two men wounded in the riots died overnight, and that 64 people had been arrested under Pakistan’s anti-terrorism laws — 40 who were detained for the initial unrest and another 24 for Saturday’s riots.
Dogar said security had been increased in the area Sunday, when funerals for the dead were expected to be held.
“We have deployed extra police forces in the sensitive area and extensive patrolling is being carried out in the city to avert any other untoward incident,” he said.
Locals and officials said the situation Sunday morning was tense, but there was no renewed unrest.
“There is too much fear among the Christians,” said Provincial Minister for Minority affairs Kamran Michael. “The situation is tense in the city, but security has been enhanced to keep the situation under control.”
Sohail Iqbal, a cell phone shop owner in the city’s main market, said by phone that there was a heavy police presence in the area, and that the paramilitary Rangers were patrolling.
“We have opened our shop and others too, but the atmosphere is grim and tense,” he said.
Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti said 40 Christian homes were torched Saturday in rioting led by the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba group, which is accused of attacks against security forces and of carrying out bombings at public places in recent years. He said there was no truth to allegations that a Quran had been defiled and accused the police of ignoring his appeal to provide protection to Christians under threat.
Television footage showed baton-wielding crowds running through the streets Saturday, blocking traffic and a railway line. Blackened furniture lay outside burning homes, while a group of people rushed a man with burn injuries on a wooden hand-pulled cart through the streets. Gunfire rang out.
On Sunday, local television showed women gathered in Gojra’s Christian neighborhood, crying and wailing in mourning for the dead.
–Agencies