Muslim mob kills six Christians over blasphemy rumours in Pakistan

Aug 1, 2009, 13:04 GMT

Islamabad - Six people, including four women and a child, were killed and 14 injured Saturday when a Muslim mob ransacked two churches and set ablaze dozens of houses of minority Christians in Pakistan's eastern province of Punjab, a government minister said.

The riots erupted when participants of a rally to protest the alleged desecration of Muslim's holy book the Koran started pelting stones at the Christian houses, triggering brief exchange of fire between the two groups in Gojra, located some 120 kilometers south west of Lahore, the capital of Punjab.

'After the firing, the enraged mob entered the Christian neighborhood and set on fire 40 houses after ransacking over 100,' said a local police officer Karamat Ali.

Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, who is also a Christian, said the bodies of four women, one child and a man had been retrieved from the burnt houses.

According to Bhatti, the police and civilian administration in Gojra did little to protect Christians, even though tension had grown between the two communities since Thursday when on the same issue 75 houses of Christians were set ablaze in a nearby village.

'I had requested them to deploy the force but they did not. Besides, they came in action very late, almost after five hours, to control the mob,' he told the German Press Agency dpa.

The minister said he suspected that some Islamic extremist must have instigated the people.

Rana Sanaullah, the provincial Minister for Law, condemned the incident.

'We have carried out an inquiry and no one is found responsible for desecration of Holy Koran,' he told the news channel. 'The mob has only acted on rumours.'

Christians form less than two per cent of 160 million-population of Pakistan. Generally, they enjoy peaceful co-existence with Muslims, but riots involving the two communities have erupted occasionally in the past, mostly after blasphemy rumours.