Daily Times

The Islamabad Police formed a ‘Minority Protection Unit’ (MPU) on Thursday for minority places of worship and communities.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter) the federal capital’s police announced the formation of the unit, which will be “responsible for the protection of minority places of worship and communities in their areas”. Around 70 policemen have been inducted to the unit.

The federal capital police stated that the MPU has been established as per the recommendations of the National Minorities Commission. It is to dispense duties under the supervision of the operations senior superintendent of police. The move comes a day after a violently charged mob of hundreds of men torched at least five churches and attacked homes of members of the Christian community in Jaranwala tehsil of Faisalabad district over an alleged incident of blasphemy.

The mob, of over 5,000 to 6,000 men, was incited through the loudspeaker of a mosque located near Cinema Chowk and urged to “gather and protest” against the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran, according to police reports and the Punjab government.

Panic gripped Jaranwala tehsil for hours on Wednesday as the hundreds of men armed with batons, road carts and petrol bottles charged the neighbourhood chanting slogans.

A large contingent of police reached the site and later enlisted troops of the paramilitary Rangers but the standoff between the mob and law enforcement authorities continued till late into the night.