Following weeks of attacks on Christians and churches in Jaranwala, Punjab, comes the latest outrage: a pastor shot by militants after removing Islamic slogans daubed across his church.
The attackers ordered Pastor Eleazar Sidhu to say aloud the Islamic creed. When he recited the Apostles’ Creed instead, they shot and wounded him.
The shooting came shortly after a 5,000-strong mob destroyed 26 churches, Bibles and many Christian homes following unsubstantiated accusations of blasphemy.
Those churches, which included the Salvation Army, United Presbyterian Church and Allied Foundation Church, are now forced to meet in the open air. Local Christians are now working out how they may reconstruct their buildings, many of which were razed to the ground.
The rampage against three Christian townships in Jaranwala followed claims over mosque loudspeakers that torn pages of the Qur’an had been found in the Christian district. Thousands of protesters armed with sticks were finally restrained by the army. But not before they set fire to the churches.
Persecuted church agency Release International has launched an appeal to help Christians driven from their homes.
