Afzal Masih feels as if in those few hours the fork of time has traveled back several decades and the scenes he is witnessing are those of the partition of India in 1947 when there were massive riots, arson and encirclement. Later, thousands of people had to leave everything behind and flee.
Anyone who saw it says that a similar scene took place on Wednesday in Isa Nagri, located on the side of Cinema Chowk in Jardanwala area. A few papers were found in the corner of a street in a Muslim neighborhood, following which people were furious. was
Locals say these were scrolls of the Quraan that were allegedly desecrated. According to him, the photograph of the alleged desecrator father and son was also present on a sheet and their name was also written on it.
The news of this had reached the neighboring Christian community. Those who lived there knew what that might mean.
Many people took their children, women with them and left everything at home and ran away. Some remained there, hoping that the situation would not worsen. After all, their Muslim neighbors know them well, they have been living together here for decades.
Soon announcements were made from the nearby mosque. In these announcements, Muslims were being asked to protest on the streets. After that, those who had stayed behind with any hope left the house and ran away. Those whose relatives live in the nearby city of Faisalabad went to them, those who had no one else took refuge in the fields along with their women and children.
In no time, crowds began to gather in front of the Catholic St. Paul’s Church in Esnagri. Some of them were carrying sticks, some were carrying kerosene bottles. They wanted to burn the church. Initially, a few policemen and a few young men from the local Christian community tried to resist, but the crowd grew and soon stormed the church.
After that, Afzal Masih says that there was a scene of resurrection. We felt that this is not Pakistan, we are not its citizens. I felt that just as people’s houses were burnt during partition, they were forced to migrate, the same is happening with us.
The mob broke into the church and ransacked it, took the belongings and threw them out and then set fire to the church. When they returned from there, they set fire to several houses around and in front of the church. These are two or three marle small houses built in the old style.
