Saima Younas adjusts a curtain on the charred doors of her house in the Christian colony of Jaranwala in Pakistan's Punjab province. (Photo: Kamran Chaudhry)
In the Christian colony of Jaranwala in Pakistan’s Punjab province, Saima Younas adjusts the curtains on the charred windows of her bedroom to stop the cold air coming through.
“Jesus, I love” proclaims a message written in ash inside a heart symbol etched above its doors.
Younas’ double-story house was among the more than 80 Christian homes and 26 churches vandalized and burned in fundamentalist mob attacks on Aug. 16, 2023, just two days after the nation’s Independence Day celebrations.
“I wish the attackers had only looted our homes and did not burn the whole building,” the 28-year-old said with tears welling up in her eyes.
As she fried fish for lunch on New Year's Day, squatting near a gas stove inside the bedroom, Younas complained that the place was rendered unlivable now, though they had cleaned and partially repaired it.
“This is no longer a place to live or sleep. We have to wash our dishes and clothes outside in the open. We ask our relatives not to visit us. We are ashamed and irked by the sorry state of our home,” she explained.
Jaranwala in Faisalabad district of Punjab is home to about 5,000 Christians, most of them poor and low-paid sanitation workers.
Eight churches were attacked in the town while mobs also targeted churches in surrounding villages.
Unlike diocesan cathedrals with polished benches, village churches are simple carpeted concrete halls with a dice, sound system, a few musical instruments, and pictured walls.
“None of them were home-based churches. The mob targeted those on the main road,” said Pastor Israel Peter who held a New Year service inside a tent erected on the spot where the Presbyterian Church in Sheruwala village near Jaranwala once stood.
About 70 percent of churches have been completely destroyed, said Father Khalid Mukhtar, the parish priest of St. John Church. He said nearly half of the Christian houses remained damaged.
“Church groups from around the country and abroad helped the local Christians resettle by providing food rations and household items. Almost all of the affected families have returned. It is time to move forward, make a fresh start,” he said.
But funding the reconstruction of the damaged houses is proving a big challenge for Faisalabad diocese amid dwindling support from Church groups and other social bodies.
The priest spoke after the New Year Mass in the jam-packed Jaranwala church, urging the parishioners to facilitate a team from UNICEF that is installing water pumps to help 163 Christian households.
Bishop Joseph Indrias Rehmat in his Christmas message referred to 2023 as a “tumultuous year” for Christians in Pakistan. “Incidents of terrorism ashamed humanity. The tragedy of Jaranwala tops them. The poor have not been rehabilitated till today. People have become victims of moral bitterness,” he said.
He thanked the “many good Samaritans” who came forward to help the affected people by providing financial and moral support.
One of them is Al Khidmat AK Foundation, a Muslim charity that helped renovate eight Christian houses last year. A welfare wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, a moderate Islamist political party, it will also inaugurate a reverse osmosis filtration plant in the Christian colony of Jaranwala next month.
Younas’ house is one among four being reconstructed now. “AK workers are not only rebuilding the walls of our homes but also restoring our faith in humanity,” she said.
Haji Amir Shehzad, a supervisor at the reconstruction site, said the project aims to help poor Christians whom they regard as Ahl al-Kitab (People of the Book).
“Miscreants are responsible for the tragedy. They can’t be Muslims,” he said while adding that “Christians who committed blasphemy can’t be Christians.”
The Jaranwala violence was allegedly triggered by accusations of blasphemy, which eventually escalated to open calls for and targeted attacks on the minority Christian community.
The damage in material terms can be gauged from the aid worth eight million rupees (US$28,394) that Caritas Pakistan Faisalabad distributed among 200 Christians last year.
The affected Christian families had to depend on Church agencies and parish groups as access to government aid remains a big challenge.
Pakistan's government gave two million rupees as compensation for damaged houses. However, it selected only one household among several living together under the same roof under the joint family system followed on the subcontinent.
Younas said she did not receive a check despite owning two rooms on the ground floor of the family home.
“I suffered the most because the attackers targeted the ground floor. But the government paid compensation only to my uncle who lives on the top floor. Even his married children living on the first floor were denied funds,” she said.
Shama Bibi of Isa Nagri, a Christian colony in Jaranwala, fled with her family after the attack. When the government survey teams arrived for damage assessment, they found the house empty so Bibi and her family were denied compensation.
A Church ministry donated tarpaulin sheets and a wooden door that her husband, a laborer, has placed unhinged at the temporary tent’s entrance.
“Our house was fortunately not burned, but the adjoining houses were set ablaze. Hence our walls were damaged,” she said.
The walls are being repaired now. A Christmas-themed curtain covers the burnt spaces near the window. Another white curtain hanging on the door holds back the winter chill.
The couple is worried for their newborn son as the mercury dips, but are thankful they’re all alive.
“We thank God, we could see the New Year. Material items don’t matter. At least our lives were spared,” they said while hoping and praying that “the attacks don’t happen again.”
