(FRONT PAGE MAG) – While general elections were held in Pakistan on February 8 amid allegations of fraud, Christians in the country continued suffering from severe persecution and braced themselves for a frightening future – having still been traumatized by last year’s anti-Christian pogrom.
Hundreds of Christians fled their homes on August 16, 2013 when in the Pakistani district of Jaranwala, Muslim mobs launched an anti-Christian riot, vandalizing churches and committing arson against both churches and Christians’ homes — all based just on an accusation that a Quran was desecrated.
At least 20 churches throughout the city were set on fire and more than 400 Christian-owned homes damaged. The rioters attacked and vandalized a Christian cemetery and burned the office of the Christian assistant commissioner of Jaranwala.
