Mob attacks on Christian churches and homes in Pakistan set off by false implication

On Sep 4, 2023

Residents stand amid debris beside the torched Saint John Church in Jaranwala on the outskirts of Faisalabad on August 17, 2023, a day after an attack by Muslim men following allegations spread that Christians had desecrated the Koran. - Police were guarding a Christian neighbourhood in central Pakistan on August 17, after hundreds of Muslim men rampaged through its streets setting fire to churches and ransacking homes over accusations of blasphemy a day earlier. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)

RELIGIONS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – Last month’s mob attacks on churches and homes of Christians in eastern Pakistan erupted after three Christians threw the pages of Islam’s holy book outside the house of two others to falsely implicate them in a blasphemy case due to a personal dispute, Pakistani police said Monday.

AP reported the three detained suspects confessed to conspiring and throwing Quran pages outside Raja Amir’s house, three police officials said. Amir and his brother had been arrested after they were accused by Muslims of desecrating the Quran.

The suspected mastermind was Pervez Kodu, who thought Amir had an affair with his wife and knew Muslims would target Amir if Kodu had thrown the pages outside his house to give the impression Amir had desecrated the holy book, three police officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media on the record. They said the three men now face charges of causing violence and falsely implicating Amir and his brother in a blasphemy case.