Christian man on death row for ‘sparking’ riots in Jaranwala

SAHIWAL: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has awarded the death sentence to a Christian youth, who is alleged to have circulated a social media post that led to riots in the town of Jaranwala in August last year.

Sahiwal ATC Special Judge Ziaullah Khan anno­­unced the verdict, also sentencing the young man to 22 years in prison and imp­osing a fine of Rs1 million.

Dozens of Christian homes and around 20 chu­rches were vandalised and ransacked by mobs in Jaran­wala following allegations that a copy of the Holy Quran had been desecrated.

Punjab police had claimed last year that around 135 miscreants had been booked for the attacks on the minority community in Jaranwala.

But according to Advo­cate Akmal Bhatti, chairman of the Minorities Alli­a­nce, most of the accused had either been discharged or freed on bail. Hardly 12 people are currently facing trials, he said.

In March, a Faisalabad ATC had acquitted two Christian brothers who were ostensibly ‘framed’ for desecration after a police probe revealed that the two had been implicated in a blasphemy case over a personal enmity.

The convict was accused of sharing a social media post, which allegedly contained blasphemous content on a complaint by Sub-Inspec­tor Amir Farooq of Dera Rahim police. He was picked up by police on intelligence reports three days after the riots.

The final judgment said he was awarded the death sentence and a fine of Rs500,000 under Section 295(C), 10 years rigorous imprisonment under Sec­tion 295(A), seven years under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, and five years and Rs500,000 fine under 7(1) (G)-ATA.

Complainant Amir Farooq, who is now serving as SHO at the Ghala Mandi police, told Dawn that while the man in question did not produce the blasphemous content, he did share it on TikTok, where it went viral.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2024