Belongings of Christians burned in Muslim rioting in Jaranwala, Pakistan on Aug. 16, 2023. (Morning Star News)
LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – Defective police investigation resulted in the acquittal of 10 Muslims involved in burning a church building and ransacking a Christian’s home during the Aug. 16, 2023 riots in Jaranwala, Pakistan, an attorney said.
Despite strong evidence against them, Faisalabad Anti-Terrorism Judge Javed Iqbal Sheikh on Wednesday (June 4) acquitted the 10 named suspects in the case registered by Lundianwala police for burning a Salvation Army church and ransacking and looting the home of a Siddique Masih, attorney Akmal Bhatti said.
“The police intentionally ignored solid evidence against the accused and failed to conduct a proper investigation that led to the acquittal of the accused,” Bhatti told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News, adding that Masih had identified all of those accused of ransacking his home at a jail identification line-up.
The suspects included Ausaf Ali, his two sons Shamoan Ali and Saleem Ali, Usama Akbar, Muhammad Idrees, Atif Hussain, Muhammad Nadeem, Muhammad Azam and Muhammad Ashraf.
“We tried our best to prove our case against the accused on the basis of evidence recorded by 23 witnesses, including police officials and three Christians – Siddique Masih, Liaqat Gill and Iqbal Masih – who were present on the two crime scenes in village Chak 651/2 GB, Jaranwala,” Bhatti said, adding that they they would challenge the verdict in the Lahore High Court.
“We have continuously raised the issue of defective police investigation in all 22 cases registered against the Aug. 16, 2023 rioters, but our pleas for justice fell on deaf ears,” the attorney said.
Bhatti, who represented both the church and Siddique, said the case was registered on the complaint of the station house officer (SHO) of Lundianwala police, who arrested the suspects at the crime scene.
Also chairman of a Christian socio-political movement, Minorities Alliance Pakistan (MAP), Bhatti is a staunch advocate of Christian rights in Pakistan. He said some Christians also played a role in damaging the Jaranwala cases at the behest of state officials.
“These vested elements assumed the role of Christian representatives by themselves and held multiple meetings with police and district administration officials,” he said. “These meetings were nothing more than photo-ops to show Christians in Pakistan and across the world that they were making efforts for justice, whereas the truth is that they were only working to protect the interests of the government.”
The result of their meetings is evident, and the outcome in the remaining cases will be no different, Bhatti lamented.
Christian Daily International-Morning Star News has credible information that some Christian groups, including a senior leader of the Church of Pakistan, received hundreds of thousands of dollars from their foreign donors to pursue Jaranwala legal cases in the trial court as well as Lahore High Court but did not use the money for their intended purpose. Most of the Christian lawyers engaged by these groups took up the cases on voluntary basis, resulting in many of them losing interest in the cases after some months.
More than 25 churches and 85 homes of Christians in Jaranwala Tehsil of Faisalabad District, Punjab Province were ransacked and looted on Aug. 16, 2023 by a frenzied mob of thousands of Muslims after two Christian brothers were accused of writing blasphemous content and desecrating the Quran. The attack drew nationwide condemnation.
More than 300 Muslims were arrested for the riots, but a majority of the suspects were either bailed out or were discharged from the cases due to defective police investigation.
According to Amnesty International, of 5,213 suspects, 380 were arrested while 4,833 remained at large.
“Of the arrested suspects, 228 were released on bail and 77 others had the charges against them dropped,” Babu Ram Pant, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for South Asia, said in a press statement on the first anniversary of the incident. “Despite the authorities’ assurances of accountability, the grossly inadequate action has allowed a climate of impunity for the perpetrators of the Jaranwala violence.”
Blasphemy accusations are common in Pakistan, and those found guilty of insulting Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, can be sentenced to death. While authorities have yet to carry out death sentences for blasphemy, often the accusation alone can spark riots and incite mobs to violence.
The two Christian brothers in Jaranwala were acquitted of the blasphemy charges after an anti-terrorism court found that they had been framed by another Christian following a personal dispute.
Pakistan ranked eighth on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian.
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- Belongings of Christians burned in Muslim rioting in Jaranwala, Pakistan on Aug. 16, 2023. (Morning Star News)
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