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Nearly 1,000 Pakistani Christian families are living in tents after
being driven from their Punjab homes by Muslim rioters, a bishop
said on Wednesday.
Alexander John Malik, the bishop of Lahore, said after visiting the
Christian-populated village of Shantinagar that the whole village,
including six churches, had been looted and set on fire during
communal violence last Thursday. Troops were later called in to
control the unrest.
"Christians are living in tents under the supervision of the Army,"
Malik said.
"Prior to this incident, Muslims and Christians were living in a
peaceful atmosphere for many decades," he added, accusing the
police of provoking trouble.
The local deputy superintendent of police in Shantinagar was
suspended after Christians accused him of desecrating the Bible
during a raid on a Christian home.
The policemen were arrested, but released on bail. Malik said they
had sought to take revenge by spreading rumours that Christians had
torn pages from the Quran, written blasphemous remarks and thrown
them into a Mosque.
This sparked the riot that forced Christians to leave their homes,
he added.
Two men were killed, and 19, including a policeman, were wounded in
the unrest, local officials and residents said at the time.
In February 1995, two Christians, one of them a 14-year-old boy,
were sentenced. to, death for blasphemy in Lahore, but were
acquitted on appeal and then emigrated to Germany.
Then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto vowed at the time to alter the
blasphemy law but pressure from religious parties blocked any
change.
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