Pakistan's Christens under Attack: '''Mob rule'''

Nobody died but a community was murdered. It was murdered deliberately and with malice aforethought. Over 175 houses in a primarily Christian colony in the Badami Bagh area of Lahore were damaged or destroyed, and the possessions of those who until two days ago lived in them were dragged out and burnt. Most of the residents had already fled before the destruction started, but there were harrowing scenes of women and children screaming in fear as they ran from the mob. Chilling images of young men hurling a Christian cross onto a bonfire and others dancing in what was a clearly triumphal mood mark this latest incident as yet another in the quickening string of attacks on religious minorities. The rioters, carrying cans of petrol, came prepared to do damage – and they came in thousands. There was nothing that spoke of spontaneity where at the most a few hundred might have gathered. There was organisation, planning, and a determination to drive the Christians from their homes. The police were silent onlookers, and made no serious attempt to prevent the looting and arson. In this they mirrored the actions of the police at Gojra, near Toba Tek Singh, several years ago when another Christian colony was attacked and burnt. The background story to the incident has a familiar ring. The land the houses were on is in an industrial area and it is said that ‘vested interests’ wanted it vacated. Another thread to the narrative lies in a personal enmity, one man settling a score with another by making an allegation of blasphemy. The original ‘blasphemer’ (the allegation has yet to be substantiated) was arrested on Friday – which leads one to question why the colony was not attacked until Saturday? And why was it attacked if the ‘blasphemer’ was behind bars? This is not to say that the barbarity would have been justified otherwise. This is a ‘practical’ question raised about the motives of those who are not familiar with trivia like humanity, dignity and civilisation. There were protests by Christians who pelted the new metro buses in Lahore; the police retaliated with tear gas. Protests have been called for in other cities, and the large Christian community in Karachi gathered outside St Josephs church. Whatever the truth or otherwise of the blasphemy allegation, here is yet another example of the forces of law and order standing by while a minority community was destroyed before their eyes. The police have arrested perhaps a couple of hundred, but there is no serious expectation of a successful prosecution of any of those so clearly identifiable from footage shot at the scene. All of the minority religious groups in Pakistan are vulnerable, some of them persecuted or murdered in their hundreds. The state in the widest sense, be it provincial or federal, pays lip service to their protection and well-being but never moves decisively to either protect or defend them. The Mob can be activated at the touch of a button, summoned and instructed by SMS, and it is The Mob and its manipulators that today hold the reins of power in a country where tolerance has been cast off. Courage must be found to stop and fight this madness that can only be the hallmark of a pariah state.