By Declan Walsh & Waqar Gillani, New York Times, March 9/10, 2014

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — An enraged Muslim crowd attacked a Christian neighborhood in Lahore on Saturday, setting fire to more than 150 houses and 2 churches, in a new display of religious intolerance as Pakistan reels from violent persecution against other minorities.

In Peshawar on Saturday, a bomb exploded in a mosque, killing at least 4 people and wounding 28, the police said.

In Lahore, several thousand people attacked the Joseph Colony, a Christian neighborhood of about 200 homes, after a report that a Christian sanitation worker had blasphemed the Prophet Muhammad. [....]

On Thursday, Mr. Imran accused Mr. Masih, 28, of blasphemy, sending a shiver of apprehension through the Christian population. People began to leave their homes that evening, and on Friday, the police prepared charges against Mr. Masih.

On Saturday morning, several thousand people, including ethnic Pashtuns who worked in nearby factories, set upon the colony. Some were armed with batons and pistols, the police said. [.....] “Even a single household has not been spared,” [.....] The devastation was a testament to the intolerance sweeping across Pakistani society. [.....]

Also see:

To Fight India, We Fought Ourselves
By Mohsin Hamid, New York Times Guest Op-Ed, Feb. 21/22, 2013

LAHORE, Pakistan--ON Monday, my mother’s and sister’s eye doctor was assassinated. He was a Shiite. [....]

Minority persecution is a common notion around the world, bringing to mind the treatment of African-Americans in the United States, for example, or Arab immigrants in Europe. In Pakistan, though, the situation is more unusual: those persecuted as minorities collectively constitute a vast majority. [....]

At the heart of Pakistan’s troubles is the celebration of the militant. Whether fighting in Afghanistan, or Kashmir, or at home, this deadly figure has been elevated to heroic status [....]