SC rejects Punjab govt report on Jarranwala communal violence

The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday rejected the Punjab government’s report on the Jaranwala communal violence, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked that he was feeling so disappointed that he just wanted to throw the report into a dustbin. “I am feeling ashamed that only 18 challans have been submitted in the case in the last six months,” he said, and questioned, “We keep raising hue and cry over ‘Islamophobia’ wherever we go in the world. But what are we doing here in Pakistan? Have we ever thought about that? Do we want to follow in the footsteps of India where minorities’ are not safe?”  

Brave personnel of Jaranwala police on the day of violence, the chief justice said, watched the Christians suffer and did not budge from their positions even by an inch.

“The question is how many people involved in the incident have been arrested so far?”

Additional Advocate General (AAG) Punjab told the court that the incident had taken place on August 16, 2023. “Since then 22 cases have been registered and 304 people have been taken into custody,” he informed.

The CJP asked at what time the first church had been burnt and at what are the timings of Fajr prayers in August.

SP Investigation Faisalabad told him that the pages of the holy Quran were desecrated at 5:15 AM.

Later, he informed, members of the Muslim community met and decided that they would respond.

On August 16, a charged crowd vandalized several churches and set fire to scores of houses in Jaranwala, a town close to Faisalabad, after clerics allegedly asked the mob to attack the Christian community for desecrating the holy book.

Reporter: Ihtesham Kiani