Jaranwala one year later: No justice, no safety

One year since violence described as the worst outbreak of Christian persecution in Pakistan, Church leaders say people are terrified of more attacks and furious that the culprits have not been brought to justice.  

Leading clergy in the Diocese of Faisalabad reported that security services warned Christians in Jaranwala against holding outdoor events on Friday, August 16th, to mark the first anniversary of the atrocities. 

In a single day, a mob of thousands torched and ransacked more than 25 churches and at least 85 Christian homes in what Pakistan’s bishops called “the worst incident against Christians” in the country’s 77-year history. 

Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the Catholic charity for persecuted Christians, Bishop Indrias Rehmat of Faisalabad said, “People are frightened and feeling hopeless, because so far, justice has not been given to them. Some people are angry and want to agitate. 

They demand that we act for justice, but what can we do? Justice can only be given by the government. The culprits are mostly out on bail and this is upsetting the community.”  

“The extremist groups want to take revenge,” he added. “They feel that after what happened in Jaranwala, they lost their reputation as good citizens. They lost their credibility.” 

Father Yaqub Yousif, the parish priest of Jaranwala, said that anniversary services would have been held in churches, but that government security warned against people gathering outside.  

Father Yousif and Father Boniface ‘Bonnie’ Mendes, a senior priest of the Faisalabad diocese, echoed Bishop Rehmat’s dismay at the failure to bring those involved in the violence to justice. 

Father Yousif said, “People are disturbed by the lack of justice. They feel very insecure. If the institutions responsible for providing justice cannot help, what can the people do as weak minorities? They are scared.” 

According to the latest reports from the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), the Church’s human rights organization, 305 people were arrested for the attack, and only five are still behind bars. 

The only person sentenced was Ehsan Shan, a Christian man, who is serving life in prison for blasphemy after being found guilty of sharing an image of the desecrated Qur’an on social media, which triggered the violence. 

Father Yousif said, “I would like to make it clear that Christians do not have any thought of showing disrespect either to the Qur’an or the prophet, and would see absolutely no value in acts of desecration.”  

Of the 25 police reports related to the attack, 17 were registered by Christians. Father Yousif said that the faithful had gradually dropped charges in response to violent threats.  

During a visit to ACN UK’s national offices in Surrey, Father Mendes said, “Justice has not been served in the last 12 months.  The right people should have been sentenced, but this has not happened.

The government has been so weak. It is afraid to act. We feel more and more that the government is helpless. It means the Christian community tends to be more and more inward-looking and want to leave the country.”

Naeem Youssif Gill, the executive director of NCJP, said, “Justice should be implemented with a spirit of equality, and it should be based on the law.  

Steps such as stopping provocation through loudspeakers, banning extremist outfits, and seizing hate-mongering literature must be intensified and evaluated, and their success must be ensured.”   

The Pakistani government quickly compensated people affected by the attacks, but the NCJP reports that only 26 of the 86 houses damaged in the attacks have been renovated. 

But Bishop Rehmat said that early on, he stopped the church repairs sponsored by the government, because contractors were doing a bad job and failed to repair roofs, leaving the buildings unsafe.  

Nineteen of the 26 damaged churches have been repaired, with the NCJP reporting that most of the renovation had been carried out by the Christian communities themselves. 

Bishop Rehmat went on to praise ACN for providing emergency support for the affected families returning home, including furniture, basic household items, autorickshaws, and other transport for taxi drivers and people needing to restart their business. 

He said, “On behalf of the Jaranwala community, those who were victims on that day and the whole diocese, I would like to thank ACN and the generous benefactors who have responded to our needs.  

They share our mission. From the core of my heart, I would like to thank each member of ACN. Through their continued help, may they go on to help more people in need.”   

– John Pontifex