Human Rights Under Pressure: Another Church Assault in Kot Radha Kishan

(S T A S)
An attack on a Christian place of worship in Kot Radha Kishan, District Kasur, has once again raised troubling questions about the safety of religious minorities in Pakistan and the state’s ability or willingness to deliver justice beyond routine condemnations.

According to police records, unknown assailants vandalized the Feroz Din Tak Memorial Church in Ghaneeke in the early hours of January 5, 2026. The incident came to light at around 4:00 a.m. when the church was opened for worship. The main entrance grills were found broken, sacred furniture overturned, sound equipment damaged, and holy books thrown on the floor, torn and desecrated.

Following a written complaint by the church in-charge, Tariq Masih son of Qadir Masih, the police registered FIR No. 22/26 at Kot Radha Kishan Police Station under Sections 295 and 295-A of the Pakistan Penal Code. Two local residents also witnessed the aftermath of the incident and corroborated the account.

Police officials claim that a suspect has been taken into custody and that investigations are underway. However, for Pakistan’s Christian community, such assurances are met with deep skepticism shaped by bitter experience.

The incident cannot be viewed in isolation. It inevitably evokes memories of the Jaranwala tragedy, where 26 churches were burned and an entire Christian neighborhood was attacked in a wave of mob violence. Nearly 28 months later, the victims of Jaranwala continue to wait for justice. While hundreds were initially arrested, most were subsequently released, and those believed to be the main perpetrators remain free.

This pattern—arrests followed by silence, investigations without conclusions, and justice without accountability—has eroded confidence among minority communities. As in previous cases, condemnation statements have begun to surface, but they offer little reassurance in the absence of meaningful convictions.

Community leaders warn that the Kot Radha Kishan attack may follow the same trajectory unless there is transparent, impartial, and sustained legal action. “We will continue to remind the state of what happened in Jaranwala,” said one community representative. “Because forgetting the past is how new injustices are born.”

As the investigation proceeds, the question remains painfully familiar: will this case mark a break from the past, or will it become another file in a system where justice is promised but rarely delivered?

For now, the nation watches –once again — waiting to see what happens next.