The president of Pakistan’s Catholic Bishops’ Conference has welcomed a Supreme Court decision to reject a government report into the authorities’ response to attacks described by Church leaders as the “worst incident against Christians” in the nation’s history.
Bishop Samson Shukardin praised Pakistan’s highest court which threw out the government report on the attacks in Jaranwala where in a single day last August a mob torched more than 25 churches and up to 100 homes belonging to Christians.
Qazi Faez Isa, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, who headed the three-member bench of the Supreme Court, described the report, submitted by the Additional Advocate General of Punjab, as being worthy of “being thrown in the dustbin.”
The court alleged the report lacked relevant information, including details of arrests and court cases and that the investigation agencies lacked determination to bring the perpetrators to justice.
At a Supreme Court hearing about the report, a Punjab law officer stated that after 304 arrests only 22 cases had been registered, with just 18 charge sheets collected.
The court ordered that a fresh report be submitted within two weeks, warning the authorities they may face suspension if they fail to carry out their investigations thoroughly.
Bishop Shukardin, who heads the Diocese of Hyderabad, in Sindh Province, described the Supreme Court’s reaction to the government report on Jaranwala as “very positive for us as Christians.
“This is the first time the Government and especially the Supreme Court has taken this issue so seriously,” he told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN),
His comments come amid reports of widespread breakdown in trust between the police and the Christian community and others in Jaranwala and elsewhere.
Church leaders have described how people are disillusioned about delays in bringing perpetrators to justice and fears that police are not committed to protecting Christians and other minorities at risk of attack.