The attack on three churches and a number of homes by a mob in Jaranwala, indicates that matters which had seemed to have gone out of control, have not improved. Once again, a mob has been inflamed to violence by a cleric’s diatribe against an alleged blasphemer. After the situation calmed somewhat, it transpired that the accused had been taken into custody by the police, that one church had been razed and two others ransacked. In that process, there had been desecration of the Bible aplenty. It is not claimed that the accused had attempted to claim sanctuary at the altar of any of the churches, and thus the motive of attacking the churches seems to be simple revenge. This does not have any sanction even among the most hard-line clerics, and seems to be a result of the failure to deal with previous outbursts according to the law.
Once again, the desire to punish blasphemy personally is not so much a manifestation of personal piety, as a manifestation of distrust in the justice system. The feeling that a blasphemer can be safely handed over to the police and that it would then proceed to punish him or her, has not developed amongst the general public. The religious injunctions regarding blasphemy are observed with great fanfare, but there does not seem to be the same attention paid to the protections granted to non-Muslims in Muslim countries, not as historical practice, but equally religious injunctions. Those injunctions are not a licence to blasphemy, but seem woefully neglected in this case.
It will take a lot of work by the state to develop a counter-narrative of tolerance, and trust in the justice system. At the moment, it seems that ever greater depths of violence are being demonstrated. Is it impossible that the next step might be invading private homes, something even the police cannot do without a warrant. The state cannot hide behind its being a caretaker administration. It must take suitable steps to restore c confidence in a minority community which has had its churches trashed. If indeed the police looked on as silent spectators when the churches were attacked, action against the negligent policemen must be taken. Those responsible must also be acted against. The transfer of the AC Jaranwala, Mr Shaukat Masih, and the giving of the additional charge to the AC Tandlianwala, Rana Aurangzeb, seems particularly hamhanded at this point, as if the Punjab government doubted the loyalties of its ACs, and suspected that a Christian would somehow favour his co-religionists, but a Muslim not his.
