Nearly two years after a mob of approximately 2,000 people beat 73-year-old Pakistani Christian Nazir (Lazar) Masih to death over blasphemy allegations in Sargodha, Punjab, his family says they remain without justice, without compensation, and without a home — displaced from the city where their lives were destroyed in 2024.

The Attack and Its Aftermath

The violence erupted after an announcement made from a mosque reportedly amplified allegations that Masih had desecrated pages of the Quran. The mob descended on his home and shoe factory, setting the business ablaze. Police managed to evacuate nine family members, but Masih was caught by the crowd and beaten with stones, bricks, and sticks. He later succumbed to his injuries. His death triggered widespread protests by Christian communities across Pakistan.

This year, as Pakistan observed Eid al-Adha, his son Sultan Gill was preparing instead for his father's death anniversary. 'Our wounds became fresh during Eid. The cruelty cannot be described in words,' Gill was quoted as saying. He added that two of his children had been forced to abandon their education and take up work to support the family, who now live in a new city and pay rent on a home they never planned to need.

Promised Compensation Never Arrived

Sultan Gill said police had assured the family they would receive PKR 1.2 million as compensation for damage to the factory — an amount he described as a fraction of its actual worth. Despite repeated visits to the district administration and Punjab province's minority affairs minister, the family has received nothing, according to reports.

The property itself remains abandoned. The family has not returned to Sargodha since the attack. 'The confidence is gone. We cannot move around or talk freely,' Gill said.

Arrests Made, Then Released

Sargodha police registered cases against approximately 450 unidentified suspects under anti-terrorism laws, and 25 people were arrested in connection with the attack. However, Sunil Kaleem, Director of the Organisation for Legal Aid, has stated that all of the accused were released within weeks of their arrest — raising serious questions about the sincerity of the prosecution.

Jaranwala: A Parallel Pattern of Impunity

The Sargodha case is not isolated. A church leader has accused Pakistani police of defying a Supreme Court order to arrest all suspects involved in the 2023 attacks on multiple churches and Christian homes in the Jaranwala area of Punjab.

Khalid Mukhtar, whose parish house was among the properties destroyed, said that on 31 March, the Supreme Court directed police to immediately arrest absconding suspects and ordered the Faisalabad anti-terrorism court to conclude trials within six months. Mukhtar, now serving as priest of St Joseph's Church in Faisalabad, said: 'Despite providing police with video and photographic evidence identifying many of those involved, there has been no meaningful progress in arrests. We have met senior police officials several times since the ruling, but their assurances have not translated into concrete action.'

According to reports, of 336 suspects against whom police have submitted charge sheets, only one remains in prison — the rest have either been granted bail or discharged from cases filed by Christians. The Jaranwala violence had originally erupted after two Christians were accused of Quran desecration; a trial court later acquitted both men, finding they had been falsely implicated following a personal dispute.

A Systemic Crisis for Pakistan's Christians

Taken together, the Sargodha and Jaranwala cases point to a pattern critics describe as structural impunity — where mob violence against religious minorities is followed by nominal arrests, swift releases, and stalled trials. Human rights advocates argue that Pakistan's blasphemy laws, as currently applied, create conditions in which unverified allegations can trigger lethal mob action with little legal consequence. How the Pakistani state responds to both the Supreme Court's directives and the families still awaiting relief will be closely watched by international human rights bodies.