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2023-08-19 India-Pakistan
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Pak govt promises to restore Jadanwala churches by next week
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[Dawn] Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....
caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Friday that all damaged churches in Jaranwala will be restored by next week.
"Assessments are being made to gauge the extent of damage to destroyed homes, and financial assistance will be provided to affected families accordingly," Mr Naqvi said.
Mr Naqvi told a delegation of Christian leaders at the Chief Minister’s Office that the destroyed churches would be restored, latest by Tuesday, and compensation paid to those whose homes have been damaged.
"Assessments are being made to gauge the extent of damage to destroyed homes, and financial assistance will be provided to affected families accordingly," Mr Naqvi said. He said more arrests were being made and those involved in this heinous crime would not escape punishment. "We have video footages and other evidence to apprehend and bring the culprits of the tragedy to justice," he said.
The delegation of minority leaders — comprising Senator Kamran Michael, Bishop Azad Marshall, former MPA Shakeel Marcus Khokhar, Shahzad Gull, Pastor Jameel Nasir, Colonel McDonald Chandy, Pastor Anwar Fazal, Pastor Waseemullah Khokhar, Bishop Sebastian Shah — underscored the need to take swift action against the culprits to prevent such incidents in the future.
Doubts over blasphemy
 ...the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. Some religions consider it to be a crime. In Pakistain you can commit blasphemy by looking cross-eyed at a Koran...
allegations
Also on Friday, two key officials cast doubt on the allegations of desecration of the Holy Koran, which became the basis for the mob’s rampage in Jaranwala.
In an interview with Rooters, Punjab police chief Usman Anwar said that pages of the Holy Koran were found in a street with derogatory comments written on them in red.
One attached extra page also carried the names, addresses and national identity card numbers of the accused. Police were investigating all angles as to why the names and addresses would be attached, he told Rooters.
That does indeed seem odd. These concerns were echoed by caretaker Punjab information minister Amir Mir.
Speaking to Geo News anchorperson Shahzad Iqbal on Friday night, he said: "Initial investigation indicates that this was a conspiracy to provoke religious sentiments among the Moslem population and create a riot-like situation. The investigation is ongoing, and once completed, all findings will be made public".
He claimed there were currently two theories: "One suggests foreign involvement, while the other points to local religious elements. When a foreign force plans an activity, they employ their agents in the country to incite unrest. Then, sometimes, when individuals of different faiths, such as Christians and Moslems, are engaged in a dispute, a situation is fabricated to exploit religious sentiments for personal gain."
"Consider how it all began — just after the Fajr prayers, when some individuals exiting the mosque found pages of the Holy Koran with inappropriate words written on them. Interestingly, the names of a Christian man... and his two sons were written on the pages in red ink, along with their telephone numbers and addresses, and their photos were also attached," he said.
Later, the men were held responsible for desecrating the holy book, he said, asking: "Do you think anyone planning blasphemy would write their own name, address, and telephone number and leave the pages in front of a mosque?"
Footprints: Nothing to come home to
Human interest stories including of Muslim neighbours who hid fleeing Christians, finishing with this: [Dawn] Azeem, the pastor’s son, said the miscreants burnt Catholic Church, then Salvation Army Church first, and later the UP and All Evangel Covenant Church. He claimed that about 25 big and small churches were attacked in Jaranwala tehsil, but many of the incidents remained unreported.
“Four churches were burnt in Noora Colony, three in Mohranwala, two in Aik Bees Wali Aabadi, five in Shehruanawala and Kamuana, one in village Dhebian in Chak 55.”
According to Azeem, the attacks continued throughout the day on Wednesday and the attackers burnt the church at Chakoo Morr at 8pm.
I visited three burnt churches in the close vicinity of Essa Nagri; six in total. A small church between the UP Church and All Evangel Covenant Church was completely destroyed.
According to the Punjab government, over 100 people, including activists of the krazed killer group Tehrik-e-Labbaik Pakistain (TLP), have been taken into custody for attacking homes and churches of Christians over the alleged blasphemy.
A case has been registered against 600 suspects under terrorism and blasphemy charges," Punjab caretaker information minister Amir Mir said in a statement on Thursday. He said peace has been restored in the area and a heavy contingent of police and Rangers has been deployed outside churches and homes of the minority Christian community.
Mir said police foiled many attempts aimed at damaging various buildings. "The chief minister has ordered a high-level investigation into the matter and those involved in this heinous crime will not escape justice," he said. The district administration has imposed section 144 for seven days, prohibiting all kinds of assembly, except for events organised by the government in Jaranwala. All educational institutions, markets and business establishments remained closed in Jaranwala on Thursday.
Christian community leaders in Faisalabad
...formerly known as Lyallpur, the third largest metropolis in Pakistain, the second largest in Punjab after Lahore. It is named after some Arab because the Paks didn't have anybody notable of their own to name it after...
on Thursday assessed the damage to their holy places and houses in Jaranwala. A total of 21 churches have either been torched or vandalised over false accusations of blasphemy, they said, adding that copies of hundreds of Bible were set on fire.
"Twenty-one churches and 35 houses of Christians including a pastor's residence were either burnt down completely or ransacked by the mob on Wednesday," Pak Centre for Law and Justice Napoleon Qayyum told PTI on Thursday. He said although peace has been restored in the area due to the heavy deployment of police, Christians fear that Islamists might strike again.
More than 3,000 coppers and two companies of Pakistain Rangers have been deployed in Jaranwala following Wednesday's riots. "Most of the Christians left the area on Wednesday to save their lives and they will return only once action is taken against those who are involved in attacks on churches and Christian houses," Qayyum said.
He said since Shaukat Masih, a Christian, was the Assistant Commissioner (AC) of Jaranwala, some local Moslems had an issue with it. "On the pretext of blasphemy, they first moved to the AC's office to attack him. Mr Masih was lucky to escape," he said. "Had the authorities in Pakistain brought those involved in attacks on Christians and their holy places to justice in the past, the Jaranwala incident might have been averted," Qayyum said, demanding the government rein in radical TLP members who are on the forefront to target minorities in Pakistain. 
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Posted by trailing wife 2023-08-19 00:19||
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