World
Pakistan: Pakistan hands out cash to Christians who lost homes in rioting over alleged desecration of Quran
MULTAN: Pakistani authorities on Monday handed out hundreds of {dollars} to almost 100 Christian households whose properties had been destroyed or broken by a Muslim mob angered over an alleged desecration of the Quran final week.
The federal government of caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar mentioned every family was getting 2 million rupees ($6,800) in compensation on Monday. Police mentioned they’ve arrested dozens extra rioters in ongoing raids, bringing the whole variety of these detained over the assaults within the metropolis of Jaranwala to 160.
On Wednesday, a whole lot of Muslims went on a rampage over allegations {that a} Christian man and his good friend had desecrated Islam’s holy e-book. Christians who fled their properties to flee the attackers later returned to a scene of destruction. Many have been dwelling outdoors since, fearing the burned buildings might collapse.
The rampage, one of the crucial damaging within the nation’s historical past, drew nationwide condemnation. Kakar on Monday traveled to the world to fulfill with a number of the victims of the assaults and hand out the compensation. He promised in a televised speech that the state will make sure the safety of minorities, together with Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and Ahmadis.
Kakar mentioned not one of the rioters will go unpunished, describing these behind the assaults as “enemies of humanity.”
Earlier within the day, Mohsin Naqvi, the highest official in Punjab province, the place Jaranwala is positioned, introduced the compensations on X, beforehand often called Twitter. Naqvi visited town on Sunday and held a gathering of native officers at a burned church.
“They’re anxious for his or her security, they’re anxious for his or her kids, who witnessed the tragedy and are traumatized,” priest Khalid Mukhtar mentioned of the native Christians. All 26 church buildings in Jaranwala had been attacked, burned or broken, he mentioned.
The rioters mentioned an area Christian and his good friend tore pages out of a Quran, threw them on the bottom and wrote insulting remarks on different pages. Police have arrested the 2 males.
Police say native leaders from the hard-line Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan occasion additionally incited folks to violence throughout which a Christian graveyard was desecrated. The occasion has a historical past of staging violent rallies in Pakistan over the desecration of the Quran in Sweden, Denmark and elsewhere.
Naqvi mentioned the compensations can be accomplished throughout the subsequent 48 hours and mentioned that authorities have begun to restore the church buildings.
Nevertheless, Mukhtar challenged Naqvi’s declare concerning the restore of church buildings, saying that the partitions of two church buildings had been solely painted as a substitute of being rebuilt.
Below Pakistan’s blasphemy legal guidelines, anybody discovered responsible of insulting Islam might be sentenced to dying. Whereas authorities have but to hold out capital punishment for blasphemy, typically mere accusations can incite mobs to violence and lynching.
The federal government of caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar mentioned every family was getting 2 million rupees ($6,800) in compensation on Monday. Police mentioned they’ve arrested dozens extra rioters in ongoing raids, bringing the whole variety of these detained over the assaults within the metropolis of Jaranwala to 160.
On Wednesday, a whole lot of Muslims went on a rampage over allegations {that a} Christian man and his good friend had desecrated Islam’s holy e-book. Christians who fled their properties to flee the attackers later returned to a scene of destruction. Many have been dwelling outdoors since, fearing the burned buildings might collapse.
The rampage, one of the crucial damaging within the nation’s historical past, drew nationwide condemnation. Kakar on Monday traveled to the world to fulfill with a number of the victims of the assaults and hand out the compensation. He promised in a televised speech that the state will make sure the safety of minorities, together with Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and Ahmadis.
Kakar mentioned not one of the rioters will go unpunished, describing these behind the assaults as “enemies of humanity.”
Earlier within the day, Mohsin Naqvi, the highest official in Punjab province, the place Jaranwala is positioned, introduced the compensations on X, beforehand often called Twitter. Naqvi visited town on Sunday and held a gathering of native officers at a burned church.
“They’re anxious for his or her security, they’re anxious for his or her kids, who witnessed the tragedy and are traumatized,” priest Khalid Mukhtar mentioned of the native Christians. All 26 church buildings in Jaranwala had been attacked, burned or broken, he mentioned.
The rioters mentioned an area Christian and his good friend tore pages out of a Quran, threw them on the bottom and wrote insulting remarks on different pages. Police have arrested the 2 males.
Police say native leaders from the hard-line Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan occasion additionally incited folks to violence throughout which a Christian graveyard was desecrated. The occasion has a historical past of staging violent rallies in Pakistan over the desecration of the Quran in Sweden, Denmark and elsewhere.
Naqvi mentioned the compensations can be accomplished throughout the subsequent 48 hours and mentioned that authorities have begun to restore the church buildings.
Nevertheless, Mukhtar challenged Naqvi’s declare concerning the restore of church buildings, saying that the partitions of two church buildings had been solely painted as a substitute of being rebuilt.
Below Pakistan’s blasphemy legal guidelines, anybody discovered responsible of insulting Islam might be sentenced to dying. Whereas authorities have but to hold out capital punishment for blasphemy, typically mere accusations can incite mobs to violence and lynching.
