ICC Note:
According to reports, a large group of Christians were accused of blasphemy in Pakistan after a dispute broke out in a village over the use of land for a Christian grave site. According to ICC’s sources, only 29 Christians and 2 Muslims were accused in the FIR registered with local police and police later removed the charge of blasphemy from the FIR and added the desecration of grave sites. According to ICC’s local sources, a Muslim graveyard had never stood in the location in dispute and the accusations against the Christians are utterly false.
9/5/2014 Pakistan (DAWN) – A ‘blasphemy’ case has been registered against 55 Christians, 35 of them nominated, and a Muslim on the allegation of desecrating hundreds of Muslim graves at Chak 206-GB.
It is learnt that the Christians flattened the graves after being informed by a local politician that the graveyard land had been allotted for their community.
The Muridwala police, on a complaint, registered a case (316/14) under sections 295-C, 506-B, 447, 148 and 147 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The applicant said several people came to the graveyard by tractors and demolished 400 to 500 graves on Tuesday last. The vandals, he said, wanted to occupy the land and the area people foiled the bid.
He said the armed men hurled life threats at the villagers on resistance.
The suspects also cut down a number of trees and took them away.
The Muridwala station house officer told Dawn it was an old graveyard which had no more space and Muslims were using another graveyard. He said eight of the suspects had been sent on judicial remand.
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