An elderly Christian was seriously injured on charges of blasphemy in Pakistan

An enraged Muslim mob also burnt his factory. 

Pakistan Christian Rights Watch 

May 25, 2024

A Muslim mob attacked a Christian in Sargodha, Pakistan on Saturday (May 25, 2024) after he was falsely accused of blasphemy. 

An elderly Christian is fighting for his life in hospital after a Muslim mob in Pakistan tried to kill him because a neighbor falsely accused him of burning pages of the Quran, his family said.

A mob ransacked the house and burnt the shoe factory of 74-year-old victim Nazir Gul in Mujahid Colony in Sargodha city, his nephew Irfan Gul said.

Nazir Gul had burnt some waste paper in the street outside his house in Mujahid Colony of Sargodha district in Punjab province on Saturday (May 25) morning when a Muslim neighbor accused him of desecrating the Quran and local Muslims attacked him. Incited to do, his nephew said.

Irfan Gul told the media that local Muslims Ayub Gondal and Mohammad Ikram Nazir Gul and his son Sultan Gul were jealous of the success of the shoe factory and pressured them to give up some of the shops they bought two months ago. According to Star News he said that the Muslims were looking for an opportunity to attack Nazir Gul's family when they refused to give in to their demands. 

On Thursday [May 23], my uncle Nazir's teenage grandsons, Kashif and Jamal, had an argument with Gondal's son over the same issue," said Irfan Gul. "Such clashes have been going on ever since he attacked our family. The pressure had started, but we had no idea that they would go that far."

Irfan Gul said that Nazir Gul had burnt the waste and went inside his house when someone threw a copy of the Holy Quran into the fire and burnt the holy book of Muslims.

"We came to know about the incident around 8 am when announcements were made over the mosque's loudspeakers urging people to gather at the site," he said "Within minutes, a mob gathered outside my uncle's house and barged in."

He said they forced him to the street and started beating him with bricks, stones and sticks.

"Meanwhile, some of the protesters ransacked the house and then went to a shoe factory, which is located in a house in the same street. When they got there, the protesters set it on fire and everyone inside burned,'' said Irfan Gul.

He said the mostly Christian residents fled their homes when they saw crowds gathering and chanting slogans associated with an extremist Islamic political party.

"Some took shelter in nearby churches while others locked their homes fearing for the safety of their families," he said. If the police had not arrived in time, the situation would have worsened.

He said the mob tried their best to kill his uncle and also tried to damage the ambulance which was called by the police to evacuate him.

"The police could not stop the mob from torturing my uncle and damaging property, but they saved the lives of my cousin and his family and drove them away from the area," he said.

Irfan Gill, a member of the local Presbyterian Church, said his uncle was put on a ventilator at the hospital where his condition was said to be critical. 

We are all in hiding at the moment, and the police are not allowing any relatives to meet my uncle,” he said. "He has suffered severe head and body injuries, and we can only pray and hope that he survives. It would be nothing short of a miracle for us."

Eyewitnesses described the crowd as extremely excited, with many taking videos of the incident on their mobile phones. 

A local Christian resident said that the mob attacked Nazir Gul and his property without trying to verify the facts.

According to various news sources, "They chanted 'Labaik ya Rasoolullah', or 'The Prophet is here', as they brought furniture and packaging materials from Nazir's house and factory and set them on fire. Name on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals from Muslims.

One of Gondal's associates, Muhammad Ikram, was a ticket holder of the extremist Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), and played a central role in mobilizing the crowd, the resident said.

"Many Christian families took refuge in churches because we could not leave the colony in time," the source said. "Inside the church, we prayed for God's intervention because it seemed the mob would not stop until they destroyed everything."

A large contingent of police, led by the district police chief, eventually reached the spot and managed to disperse the crowd by firing tear gas shells, he said, adding that the crowd retaliated by pelting stones, killing several. Police personnel were injured. Punjab Police Inspector General Dr. Usman Anwar and Punjab Home Secretary Noorul Amin Mengal also reached the area later in the day for investigation.

Anwar said in a press statement that the police arrested 15 Muslims involved in the violence and are working to identify the other culprits. He said 2,000 policemen had been deployed to restore peace in the area and urged Christians who fled their homes to return, assuring them of their safety.

Interior Secretary Punjab Mengal said that violence against anyone on the pretext of religion will not be tolerated. He further said that action will be taken against the accused after the investigation. 

At the same time, the police have registered a case against the victim under Section 295-A and 295-B of the Blasphemy Act and Section 9 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) for inciting angry Muslims. Section 295-A calls for imprisonment for up to 10 years for doing an act intentionally and maliciously to outrage religious sentiments. Section 295-B calls for life imprisonment for any person who intentionally desecrates or desecrates the Quran. Section 9 of the ATA prescribes five terms of imprisonment for inciting communal hatred.

According to the BBC 

Residents of Mujahid Colony say the tortured elderly man and his family run a factory that employs eight to ten people. All the artisans and laborers employed belong to the Christian community.

Yusuf Gul-e-Masih, who works in the factory, says that "Early in the morning, I received the information that the factory was on fire." (I came to know that outside the factory) there was a shopper with sacred scrolls lying by the pole.'

According to him, when the neighbors realized that the holy scrolls had fallen on the ground below, they 'accused and started gathering people'.

Yusuf Gill says that first the factory was set on fire and then a person was severely tortured. As soon as the other artisans working in the factory, including me, got the information about the incident, no one moved there due to fear.

Malik Iftikhar, a resident of the same area, says that the person being accused of blasphemy belongs to a family that "does not have any religious sectarianism." These are simple people and are busy with their work.

According to him, while the factory was being set ablaze, people continued to gather outside the house of the victim. His son came out of the house and said that he apologized to his father if he had offended him. But people were very angry.

Malik Iftikhar said that the police came about twenty to twenty-five minutes after the incident and the factory was burnt. The police tried to explain and disperse the people but it was all in vain. "Then when the police started taking them out of the house, people attacked them." According to him, this second attack took place in the presence of the police. 

Maybe due to the wind, some holy papers fell down.

Mirza Ghulam Muhammad, former UC chairman associated with the administration of the mosque located a short distance from this house, says that he was sleeping after offering the Fajr prayer when Farooq, the qari of the mosque, woke him up and told him that some people had come to the mosque and wish to issue a 'contemptuous declaration' against a person. I told Qari Sahib that you should not announce, I am coming.

When I reached the street, seven, eight hundred people were gathered and everyone was angry. At that time, the police, including the DPO, were present. I told the DPO that I am the former chairman here and try to make people understand. But no one heard one.

Mirza Ghulam Muhammad says that, on the contrary, some people said to me that how are you a Muslim, you want to save a religious insolent? I asked Qari Farooq to make a speech and in which he said that the law should be allowed to do its work, everyone should go home.

But no one listened to Qari Farooq's speech. At the same time, scholars of different schools came from all over the city, but the crowd did not even listen to them.

Ghulam Muhammad adds that the police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. The person who was being accused of blasphemy was also tortured in the presence of the police. Even earlier, the police had been trying to convince the protesters for several hours that the accused would be punished according to the law.

Many local residents including Ghulam Muhammad believe that the accused belongs to an educated and prosperous family.

Saif Khan, a local lawyer, says that there was a tin box hanging on an electric pole in Mujahid Colony, in which holy papers were kept. "It may be that some of the sacred scrolls fell down due to the strong wind during the night."

Journalist Asif Hanif, who reported the incident, also expressed a similar opinion. They say that the sacred scrolls may have fallen due to the night storm. He says that 'I also heard from some local residents that. (The accused) while cleaning the factory saw a fallen shopper containing sacred scrolls and some were burnt. He told his neighbor that some papers have fallen here.

The local journalist Muhammad Bilal also has a similar idea. Muhammad Bilal says that due to the sensitivity of the incident and the presence of the police, no one seems ready to give such information that can understand the reality of the incident.

The victim's family told us that he was taken to CMH Sargodha with 'severe injuries'. He was not taken to any government or private hospital because he could have been attacked there more.+
Father David John from Sargodha says that he got the information about the incident around 7 am and was told that apart from the torture of the victim, his factory was also set on fire.

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