Rights Body in Pakistan rejects police narrative on Jaranwala blasphemy case investigations, calls them “fake reports”

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Accusing police of making fake reports, Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP) has rejected the police reports on Jaranwala’s blasphemy case with their new changed narratives.

Naveed Walter, president of Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP), said that police have made fake reports on Jaranwala’s blasphemy incidents. “We reject both versions of police, first of foreign conspiracy just after the incident dated 16 August and now of honour crime to personal interests,” he added.

He also said that since the attacks on Jaranwala happened on August 16, where 21 Churches and about 100 houses were burnt, the series of attacks on Christians has started. Christians are being attacked in different areas of Pakistan while several Christians including women and children are in police custody in the name of investigations, HRFP added.

Naveed Walter said that the police were reluctant to apprehend the actual perpetrators of incitement who did through planted blasphemy charges. On the other hand, there are multiple incidents that happened with Christians as “aftershocks” of Jaranwala, he added.

Walter further said that there was a new dilemma of the extremists who marked Churches with Islamic slogans. The same has been seen on 21 August 2023 at a Church in Karachi named “The Central Brooks Memorial”, and on 28 August 2023 the Presbyterian Church in Rehmat town, Faisalabad was among the buildings, targeted.

He also said that after multiple incidents that happened to Christians, the State has failed to stop them, so they made new justifications that Christians are doing themselves.

HRFP collected the facts of each incident and observed that these were an intentional series of attacks and threats to Christians to put pressure on them. HRFP not only reject but refuse to accept the police reports.

It was reported that August 16, 2023, marked a tragic day for the Christian community in Jaranwala.

A brutal and destructive attack unfolded, resulting in the desecration of 24 churches, some reduced to rubble, and the widespread looting and burning of hundreds of homes across 11 areas in the Faisalabad district.

This eruption of violence was triggered by unfounded rumours and allegations of blasphemy targeting a Christian resident in Jaranwala’s Christian Town. (ANI)