A minority rights activist has approached the top court, requesting it to fix an early hearing on the Jaranwala incident case, warning that the situation was quickly regressing with the public attention now firmly off the.
A request in this regard was filed by minority rights activist Samuel Payara, who claimed that most of the affectees of the Jaranwala incident have yet to receive the promised compensation for their loss.
Worryingly, he claimed that the police had released most of the suspects who were allegedly involved in the attack and had been arrested, had been released.
On August 16, at least 26 churches and around 90 homes of Christians in Jaranwala were burnt to ashes, and their belongings were looted after rumours were spread about an alleged sacrilegous act by two Christians.
"The government has announced compensation for the affectees; however, not all the affectees have received this compensation and are suffering from great difficulties," Payara's application read.
It added that at the last hearing of the matter in the Supreme Court on September 8, an order had been passed to relist the case after two weeks, meaning it would be listed for the end of September. However, the case was not fixed for a hearing thus far.
"Keeping in view the agony of the affectees and the sensitivity of the matter, the present case needs to be fixed at an early date," the application requested.
At the last hearing of the case on September 8, a three-judge bench of the top court had directed the Deputy Commissioner of Sargodha to appear before the court at the next hearing, directing him to submit a copy of an alleged agreement he had signed with the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) to outsource blasphemy monitoring apart from seeking progress on investigations into the Jaranawala incident.
Pyara had filed an application on implementing the court's decisions issued in a suo moto notice on minorities' rights.
According to claims, the agreement signed between the religious party and the district administration would see the formation of committees which would patrol areas where Christian community members reside and monitor and check blasphemy issues. It harkened to the Gestapo patrols and collaborators of the Nazis in the second world war.
The bench was further informed that many families had fled during the incident. In their absence, their houses were looted and plundered. However, the victims whose houses were looted and plundered shall file their applications before the Punjab government to seek compensation.
A report was also sought from the Punjab government regarding compensation paid to the victim's families and those whose houses were looted and plundered.
The court was also informed that after the Jaranwala incident, the police had arrested 38 citizens belonging to the Christian community. Of these, the Lahore High Court discharged cases of 36 people.
The bench had directed the Punjab police to protect the community against harassment. The court was apprised that the Punjab government had devised a plan to keep the Christian community safe, but it has yet to be implemented.
The provincial government and Punjab Inspector General of Police were directed to submit a report regarding the security plan. The Punjab Law Department was directed to submit a report on the matter.
The top court has also directed the Punjab government to submit a report on the progress made by Joint Investigation Teams probing the Jaranwala incident.
The top court further directed the Federal Interior Ministry to submit a report regarding the first information reports (FIRs) registered regarding hate speech against the Christian community on social media.