Mick Hartley

Here we go again:

Muslim mobs have torched churches in Pakistan after two locals were accused of desecrating the Koran, violating blasphemy laws.

The violence erupted after torn pages of the sacred text with insulting remarks allegedly scribbled on them were found near a Christian community in Jaranwala, eastern Pakistan.

Local authorities said five churches and dozens of houses were set ablaze as thousands of rioters led by local clerics rampaged through the city carrying iron rods and knives, forcing Christians living there to flee.

Footage of flames and smoke billowing from buildings and people tearing a crucifix from a church was shared widely on social media.

The rioters were demanding that the two accused men, brothers who had fled their homes, be handed over to them.

To be torn apart by the mob. Lovely.

Paramilitary troops were reportedly deployed to help control the situation after police were accused of “inaction” by Christian leaders, who claimed officers had deliberately held off from responding to the violence until Christians were forced to abandon their homes….

The paramilitary personnel have cordoned off the Christian colony and blocked all entry and exit routes with barbed wire.

More than 100 people suspected of rioting have been arrested since the violence broke out on Wednesday.

Police have also filed a case against the two Christian men alleged to have desecrated the Koran for violation of the blasphemy law.

Under the law, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or Islamic religious figures can be sentenced to death. While authorities have yet to carry out a death sentence for blasphemy, often just the accusation can cause riots and incite lynchings.

Why would a couple of Christian brothers tear pages from the Koran, scribble insulting remarks on them, and then leave them lying around to be found? It makes no sense – especially, of all places, in Pakistan.

As we've seen on numerous occasions – the Asia Bibi case, for example – a much more likely scenario is that, yet again, those with a grudge, or those seeking to spread a bit of anti-Christian hate and keep that good ol' Islamic fervour on the boil, have taken matters into their own hands.

It always works.