Century-old Christian graveyard destroyed, houses demolished in Pakistan's Punjab

A group of Muslims led by Zafar Iqbal Nunari, a local landlord and a PTI leader destroyed, a graveyard, more than 100 years old, in Chak village of Khanewal district, the report said.

Nunari and his followers, including Akram Ghulam Haider, Iqbal Ghulam Qadir and others forcefully entered the graveyard with tractors and ploughed up the graves in the Christian cemetery, the report stated.

The local Christian community tried to stop the vandalism but were forced to leave after Nunari and his supporters wielded guns and threatened them with grave consequences, said the report.

All the graves had crosses fixed at the top, and as the graves were vandalised the crosses were mowed down.

Akhtar Khursheed, a former member of the district council, informed the grave injustice to the local authorities, the ANI report stated.

The report also said some homes belonging to the minority community were razed and they were forced to leave the area.

The Christian community in Pakistan is soft target for the land grabbers and criminals as widespread discrimination against them makes them vulnerable to blatant violations.

The report said the bias within the Pakistan Judicial system also makes recovery of lost property difficult for the Christian community.

The Christian community also fears charges of blasphemy by the majority Muslim community in case of any resistance, the report added.

(Image Credit: Pixabay)