GUJRANWALA, Pakistan — Incited by calls from mosque loudspeakers after a dispute between Muslim and Christian youths, a Muslim mob attacked a Christian neighborhood in Gujranwala on April 4, injuring at least five Christians and damaging a church and dozens of shops and vehicles.
Only a few hours after Pakistan’s Supreme Court rebuked Punjab Police for only observing arsonists and other assailants in Lahore’s Joseph Colony rioting in March, police allowed Muslims to attack Christians of Francis Colony in Gujranwala, about 50 miles from Lahore, sources said.
Area Christians said three Christian youths — identified only as Mehran, Timothius and Waqas — were heading to their homes on a motorized rickshaw along with four Muslim passengers April 2 when the two groups entered into an argument.
On April 3, a Muslim mob of 500 to 700 people mainly from nearby Noorkey village attacked their colony with firearms and clubs.
Aneeqa Maria Akhtar, a Christian lawyer who is head of The Voice Society advocacy group, said police could have prevented the violence. She said that before the clashes, Muslims made provocative speeches and used mosque loudspeakers to call Muslims to “teach the Christians a lesson,” yet police did nothing.
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