BBC News Asia
10 March 2013 Last updated at 10:14 GMT
Pakistan Christians seek protection after Lahore riot
Christians in Pakistan have called for better protection after Muslims torched
dozens of homes in the city of Lahore in response to a blasphemy allegation.
Protesters gathered in Lahore and Karachi, the country's biggest city, to
condemn Saturday's violence and ask for compensation for those affected.
The Christians had already fled their homes when the mob struck. Dozens of
people have been arrested.
Christians make up about 1.6% of Pakistan's mainly Muslim population.
Allegations of blasphemy against Islam are taken very seriously with a number
of controversial recent prosecutions.
Compensation
Police said two friends, a Muslim and a Christian, had apparently become
involved in a drunken argument, with the former accusing the latter of a
blasphemous comment.
It appears that a crowd of Muslims went from a mosque on Friday to the house of
the Christian man.
The man was taken into police custody in a bid to pacify the crowd while
hundreds of Christians fled their homes.
On Saturday, a mob began ransacking and burning their houses.
A police officer, Abdul Majid, said later on Saturday that one group had taken
it upon themselves to dispense justice.
"Last night, after arresting the man [accused], I told everyone that I had
arrested him and there was no need for any agitation but one group insisted
that I should hand him over to them," he said.
"That group is responsible for all this."
Dozens of suspected rioters were arrested after police viewed TV footage of the
attacks.
Pervez Rashid, a spokesman for the Punjab provincial government, told Geo
television the suspects "would be tried in anti-terrorist courts".
Punjab police said four officers had been removed from their posts for
"negligence".
One Christian man whose house was torched, Jani Masih, asked why innocent
Christians were being punished for one man's alleged crime.
"What is our fault?" he asked AP news agency.
"What have we done? We could have been held responsible if we had done
anything. This is cruel."
Christians held small rallies after the violence to demand an inquiry.
Father Peter John, from the Church of St Patrick in Karachi, urged the
government to "see also that the people who are affected, their properties are
burnt... get some sort of compensation".
Mr Rashid told Geo TV that each family would get 200,000 rupees ($2,050) and
their homes repaired.
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