Hate and frenzy in play again

Hate and frenzy – An enraged mob vandalised multiple churches in the Jaranwala tehsil of Faisalabad over blasphemy allegations with the crowd torching at least five churches and looted valuables from houses that had been abandoned by their owners after clerics made announcements in mosques inciting the mob. Images on social media showed smoke rising from the church buildings and people setting fire to furniture that had been dragged from them. A Christian cemetery was also vandalised as well as the local government office. Dozens of people blocked a nearby highway as well. The outbreak of violence chillingly demonstrated that the minorities of Pakistan are virtually defenceless against public rage provoked by bigotry. Lamentably, the state apparatus was seen nowhere and even when they were present while religious sites and houses were ransacked and burnt, they remained silent bystanders. It has become obvious that with each such incident, there is an incremental loss of faith in the ability, and indeed the will, of the state to protect the minorities of this country. No preventive action was taken while a hate-filled narrative on loudspeakers was broadcast to whip up public sentiment against the Christians that resulted in public carnage. It is a pity that a state that vociferously claims protecting the minorities has proved to be nothing but misleading rhetoric. The Weekender