www.guardian.co.uk
The Pakistani government has blamed a Sunni militant group linked to al-Qaida for leading an attack on a Christian community at the weekend that killed eight people, including three women and a child.
Christian schools and colleges across Pakistan closed today for three days to protest against the killings in Gojra, a scruffy town in Punjab province, on Saturday. Community leaders appealed for calm as paramilitary rangers patrolled the streets.
Thousands of Muslims rampaged through a Christian neighbourhood after days of tension over reports that a Qur'an had been burned at a Christian wedding. Six people were burned alive in one house, while two others were shot dead.
More than 100 houses were torched by a mob that, according to some officials estimates, swelled to more than 20,000 people. The police intervened with teargas but failed to stop the violence.
Pakistan has an estimated 2.8 million Christians, mostly living in Punjab and employed in poorly-paid jobs. Sectarian violence led by Muslim extremists erupts periodically, usually triggered by blasphemy allegations. The federal minister for minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, said the latest attack was led by militants from Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP), a banned militant group notorious for violence against Shia Muslims during the 1990s.
In recent years, members of SSP and its more virulent offshoot, Lashkar I Jhangvi, have been linked to numerous Taliban and al-Qaida attacks. SSP's historical base is in Jhang, close to Gojra.
Under Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws, defilement of Islam's holy book is punishable by life imprisonment. Human rights campaigners say the law is frequently abused to settle personal scores or exploit communal tensions.
Punjab's law minister, Rana Sanaullah, said initial investigations had debunked the Qur'an defilement theory and 12 people had been arrested.
"This is not the work of Muslims. A group of extremists have exploited the situation," he told a group of Christians after funeral prayers for one of the dead yesterday.
Media commentators and newspaper editorials condemned the attack as the latest sign of virulent Islamism threatening Pakistan, as the army fights the Taliban on its north-western borders. "Ours is an intolerant society, and we are particularly intolerant of those whose faith is not Muslim," said the News.
A spokesman for President Asif Ali Zardari promised an inquiry into the incident.
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