After celebrating Independence Day 2023, holding ceremonies in churches and praying for the development and security of the country, we were sleeping peacefully when the sun of August 16, 2023, was rising for us with the worst tragedy in history. Pakistan's vulnerable minorities were forced to flee, leaving their homes open to save their lives, property, and honor.  It was the same old method of accusing a Christian of blasphemy and punishing the entire village. Then a malicious person, Yasin Machhi, announced on the mosque's loudspeaker that a Christian had insulted the Holy Quran.  Suddenly, without investigation, the angry mob started burning people's houses and churches. Not only that, but they also tore down the crosses installed in the city's silent cemetery.Hundreds of houses and about 26 churches were set on fire in a short time. Religious extremists from Jaranawala set an international record of burning 26 churches in a single day. The district administration, including the police officers, deserve congratulations for their excellent facilitation in setting this record.  Whether the police or the administration admits this fact or not, there was some negligence involved in this entire process, for which there must be some reason.  This was not the first in a series of extremist attacks on Christian settlements, but rather a continuation of several previous incidents that continued without a break from 7 am to 7 pm.  It was possible that if the situation was not under control of the police, the Rangers and the army would have been called in, but the administration did not bother to do so and the police remained silent spectators, watching the entire process.

After hundreds of videos of the tragedy went viral on TV channels and social media, the police, playing their traditional role and trying to play down the seriousness of the matter, detained dozens of people and then, as usual, released the suspects after resorting to poor investigation.  It's worth thinking about if all the suspects who were released were innocent, then was there an alien creature that caused havoc and then returned?

The government's promises to bring the accused to justice remained limited to mere statements. We had heard that the Pakistan Police now have modern tools to access and interrogate the accused, with the help of which the accused cannot escape punishment.  But it is surprising why all these facilities were not used to prove the guilt of the accused involved in this tragedy.  The main accused in the incident, Yasin Machhi, who made a provocative announcement on the mosque's loudspeaker, the video of which was broadcast on social media and TV channels, was also declared innocent and released. The Chief Justice of Pakistan, the respected Qazi Faiz Esa, the pioneer of justice, went there himself and personally witnessed all the circumstances and events and promised to provide justice, but despite this, the demands of justice regarding the release of the accused could not be fulfilled.  The question arises here: were the Christian religious and political leadership, who were at that time circumambulating the Chief Minister's and Prime Minister's Houses to seek justice, fighting for their nation's cause or playing a facilitating role for the government?

If they had to present their nation's case there, why aren't they protesting with their people for not getting justice even after a year has passed?

From 1997 to 2023, there have been 91 incidents of demolishing Christian settlements, burning churches and burning people alive. In all the incidents that took place in the past 28 years, the accused have not been punished to this day, for which the religious and political leadership is responsible.  Who, instead of sharing the pain of their people after such tragedies, stand with the government, do photo sessions, and give the international community the impression that we are free and safe.  Protesting these incidents and demanding justice is in fact the responsibility of the religious leadership, which neither fulfills this responsibility nor fully supports the protesting nationalists.  If the government sincerely wants to stop such tragedies, then a judicial inquiry should be conducted into all the previous 91 incidents, including the Jaranawala incident, in which those responsible and those who facilitated them should be identified. Until those responsible are identified, the accused will not be punished. These incidents will not be stopped.  The circumstances and events and the extremist tendencies of religious parties show that minorities are unsafe here because all government institutions appear to be under pressure from religious parties.  I would like to call on those human rights activists who raise their voices against the atrocities in Palestine and occupied Kashmir to also play their role in bringing to justice the accused who burned down the 26 churches.