Two days after a mob burned churches and houses, alleging that the two men desecrated the Holy Quran, a police spokesperson and a source announced on Friday that police had arrested two Christian brothers accused of blasphemy.
Police say they discovered pages of the Holy Quran with insults scribbled in red ink on them in a public place. Inspector General of Police in Punjab Usman Anwar added that a separate page attached to the report had the names, addresses, and national identity card numbers of the suspects.
He told Reuters that the authorities were looking into all possibilities to find out why the names and addresses were connected. A government spokesman said that a judge had ordered the two suspects to be remanded in police custody for seven days so that they could be questioned.
He also said that more than 80 Christian homes and 19 churches were damaged this week in Jaranwala as a result of a mob frenzy over suspected blasphemy.
The chain of events was devastating. The IG of Punjab, Anwar, told AFP that such violence is never acceptable.
In order to “avoid accusations of torture,” Anwar claimed he personally questioned the two Christian brothers accused of blasphemy.
A total of 87 homes in the Christian neighbourhood were vandalised, and their goods were scattered around the streets, according to the police.
Anwar claimed that the police had posted guards at 3,200 churches around the province on Friday to reassure Christians, and that he himself will visit the city of Jaranwala on Sunday to demonstrate his support for the Christians there.
Across the country, Christian groups have conducted a series of smaller protests demanding increased security.
While speaking to AFP at a modest gathering, Archbishop of Karachi Benny Travis urged the government to take a hard stance on the problem and hold those responsible for the destruction accountable.Condemnation
Read Christians in the line of fire took refuge with Muslims during the Jaranwala massacre.
This past Friday, the Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) and the International Interfaith Harmony Council (IIHC) held a solemn ‘Condemnation Day’ across the country to denounce the appalling degradation occurrences of religious locations in Jaranwala.
On Fridays, religious leaders and scholars addressed Friday congregations, and their sermons reflected the general outrage. Ulema and Mashaikh from all over the country spoke out against the horrific crime, sending a strong message of solidarity and the need for justice.
They insisted that the people responsible for the tragedy should be brought to trial as soon as possible. During Friday sermons, religious leaders strongly denounced the instigators of violence as enemies of Islam and Pakistan.
PUC Chairman Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi stated, “we stand as plaintiffs of the Jaranwala tragic incident” when he announced that a group of Muslim and Christian leaders would travel to Jaranwala on Saturday (today).
Known Islamic scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani took to X (formerly Twitter) to criticise the actions that led to the Jaranwala massacre.
He emphasised that no one had the right to “take the law into his own hands” by burning a church or attacking a harmless Christian citizen if someone had committed an illegal act.
At a separate news conference, Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad, chairman of the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, called for the formation of a high-level committee to investigate the Jaranwala massacre.
