August 16, 2023: In Jaranwala, a district of Faisalabad, Punjab, the Christian locality was attacked and set ablaze over allegations of blasphemy. The controversy erupted on Wednesday morning after torn pages of the Quran with alleged blasphemous content written in red ink were said to be discovered in front of a local resident's house in a Christian colony. The evidence was taken to a local religious cleric, who reportedly urged Muslims to protest and demand that the accused be arrested.   

Thereafter inciting announcements were made from the local mosque ordering locals to gather to protect their honor in response to the alleged desecration of the Quran. 

Following the announcement, the violent mob gathered with batons, sticks and inflammable substances and attacked the Christians. The mob chanted slogans of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a widely popular far right party advocating for the beheading of those accused of blasphemy. The heartrending videos of the barbaric attacks have gone viral on social media, showing the frenzied mob climbing atop churches and kicking the holy cross -- a symbol of reverence for Christians.

25 churches were vandalized, hundreds of Bibles and crosses desecrated, and over 320 Christian homes were ransacked and burned, traumatizing women and children.  

Aware of the common practice of radical mobs and sensing the gravity of the situation, the Christian families fled their homes barefoot for their lives; either to their relatives in nearby city/villages or seeking refuge in sugar cane fields overnight under the open sky.

Police were then deployed into this highly explosive religious conflict and tense law and order situation. However, the police remained mute spectators as the houses were ransacked and churches and properties set on fire. Because of the continued impunity to the crimes committed in the name of religion, extremists and terrorists are becoming emboldened. In fact, at least 3 more incidents have been recorded in other colonies in the days after Jaranwala. According to our sources on the ground, the law enforcement agencies on the ground were unable or unwilling to control the situation.

Christians constitute around 1.3% of Pakistan's population of 250 million and have been especially vulnerable to such false accusations. Currently these allegations are regularly weaponized as a means of targeting opposition during conflicts.