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Islamabad, May 1(ANI): The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) Central Executive Committee (CEC) has condemned the attacks on a church and Christian properties in Gujranwala.

On Saturday, hundreds of people in Gujranwala attacked a Christian seminary, a church as well as houses of Christians- including a pastor- after finding out that two Christians accused of blasphemy had been released from protective custody by police on Friday.

The two Christian men were accused of writing a blasphemous note, but a handwriting expert hired by the police determined that they did not write it. Police are still trying to find the real author of the note, the Express Tribune reports.

A climate of fear seems to have overtaken the Christian community in Gujranwala, as at least 3,000 Christian families are reported to have fled Azizabad Colony and its neighbourhoods. Most have fled to Sialkot and Lahore, fearing another incident like Gojra, in which eight Christians were killed over another false blasphemy accusation.

The CEC meeting of senior members of APMA said that Christians respect all prophets, holy books and scriptures, and that no one among the community can even imagine committing such a heinous crime.

Attacks on church, Christian properties in Gujranwala over blasphemy allegations panned

Islamabad, May 1(ANI): The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) Central Executive Committee (CEC) has condemned the attacks on a church and Christian properties in Gujranwala.

On Saturday, hundreds of people in Gujranwala attacked a Christian seminary, a church as well as houses of Christians- including a pastor- after finding out that two Christians accused of blasphemy had been released from protective custody by police on Friday.

The two Christian men were accused of writing a blasphemous note, but a handwriting expert hired by the police determined that they did not write it. Police are still trying to find the real author of the note, the Express Tribune reports.

A climate of fear seems to have overtaken the Christian community in Gujranwala, as at least 3,000 Christian families are reported to have fled Azizabad Colony and its neighbourhoods. Most have fled to Sialkot and Lahore, fearing another incident like Gojra, in which eight Christians were killed over another false blasphemy accusation.

The CEC meeting of senior members of the APMA said that Christians respect all prophets, holy books and scriptures, and that no one among the community can even imagine committing such a heinous crime.

The committee stated that these types of incidents are just a conspiracy to destabilise the country, the Daily Times reports.

Such elements pose a serious threat to interfaith harmony and should be countered, said the committee, adding that adequate steps should be taken to secure religious places of all minorities.

Pakistani minorities should be treated equally like any citizen of the country, it said.

There are elements that do not want to see Pakistan as a moderate country, therefore they are smashing the vision of Pakistan’s founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the committee added.

The APMA’s CEC meeting also demanded that the Punjab Government remove the sense of insecurity and deprivation among the minorities living in the province. (ANI)