A year has passed since August 2023, when a blasphemy accusation in Jaranwala, Punjab, was followed within hours by a mob that burned churches and looted Christian homes. The accusation had not been examined by any court. No judge had seen it, no officer had investigated it, and yet a whole community was punished for it. I have spoken about Jaranwala many times in the past year as Founding Patron in Chief of Christian Lawyers Alliance Pakistan (CLAP), and today I want to write calmly about what the law owes the people whose churches were burned.
The law of Pakistan is not silent on these events. The Constitution guarantees equality before the law and the protection of every citizen’s life, property and place of worship. The Pakistan Penal Code punishes arson, rioting, theft and the desecration of places of worship. The question one year on is not whether the law exists, but whether it has been applied.
Four things the law owes Jaranwala
- Prosecution of the attackers. Those who set fire to churches and looted homes must face trial, with witnesses protected and without pressure on the victims to compromise.
- Compensation that is real. Promises made in the first week must become payments that rebuild a home and replace a livelihood. Where they have not, a writ petition is the proper remedy.
- The clearing of the falsely accused. The men whose alleged act began the violence have a right to a fair examination of the evidence and, where it does not exist, to a public declaration of innocence.
- Rebuilding of the churches, with the state’s help and under the community’s ownership, so that worship resumes in the same place it was interrupted.
What the Alliance is doing
Christian lawyers in Pakistan cannot rebuild a church with their hands, but we can hold the state to its word. CLAP’s advocates have offered free legal aid to affected families, documented what happened for the courts and for those who have fled abroad, and stand ready to file petitions where compensation or prosecution has stalled. Our work is described at clap.com.pk.
I write without bitterness. Many honourable officers, judges and neighbours have done their duty since that day, and I thank God for them. But justice for the Christian minority is not a favour granted in a good year. It is the promise of Pakistan’s Constitution, and one year on we hold the state to it. Romans 12:21 tells us to overcome evil with good. In a courtroom, good looks like patience, evidence and a lawyer who does not go home.
— Founding Patron in Chief Advocate Soba Sorya, Senior Advocate High Court, Christian Lawyers Alliance Pakistan (CLAP)
