Police only responded slowly in the wake of Wednesday’s mob violence in Jaranwala, witnesses told local media outlets, prompting renewed questions over whether Pakistani officials are willing to dedicate sufficient resources to protect its religious minorities. The large number of eventual arrests, however, suggested a more vigorous response than in the past.

The mob killing of a factory manager in Pakistan comes amid surge in anti-blasphemy violence

Christians, who account for around 2 percent of the population in this predominantly Sunni Muslim country of 240 million, are among the groups that are most frequently targeted in acts of sectarian violence.

The State Department said it was “deeply concerned” about the violence, while former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif called the incidents “disturbing,” adding that “such madness can’t be allowed.” Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, the caretaker prime minister who took over from Sharif last week, vowed “stern action.”

Naveed Ahmed, spokesman for the police in Faisalabad district, where Jaranwala is located, said police raids still continued on Thursday afternoon.

Amir Mir, the regional minister for information, said Wednesday’s attacks appeared to have been carefully coordinated. Blasphemy charges have often been used in the country to settle personal scores.

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Officials rejected accusations that they acted too slowly, saying their intervention prevented worse from happening. Around 6,000 people were believed to have participated in the riots, said police spokesman Ahmed.

Local officials said that most Christians temporarily fled to safety. Public meetings and demonstrations in the area have been banned until further notice.

After the deployment of thousands of paramilitary troops, authorities said Thursday that the situation is under control. But the incident is raising political questions in Pakistan, which is heading toward a general election in the coming months after Parliament was dissolved last week.

“Clearly, in Pakistan, evidence is not required where the issue of blasphemy is concerned, and mobs take it upon themselves to dispense ‘justice,’” wrote Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper in an editorial on Thursday. Do “the rulers — politicians and establishment — as well as clerics and prominent society figures have the courage to confront this madness?”

Under Pakistani law, blasphemy is punishable by death, even though nobody has been executed to date. Earlier this year, lawmakers voted to further tighten the rules, making it a crime as well to insult the companions or relatives of prophet Muhammad.

Critics of the country’s approach to prosecuting blasphemy allegations say that due process is often lacking, as authorities yield power to mobs — either deliberately or because they are taken by surprise — and those accused end up lynched.

In 2009, a Muslim mob killed eight Christians in Gojra city. In one of the most recent incidents, Priyantha Kumara, a 49-year-old factory manager from Sri Lanka, was killed by a mob in the Pakistani city of Sialkot in 2021. In preparation for a visiting factory delegation, Kumara had taken down religious posters and thrown them into the trash.

Noack reported from Paris.