Police fired teargas yesterday to disperse angry Christian youths in the hometown of a Pakistani Christian bishop who killed himself in protest against the country's blasphemy law, police and residents said.
But a possible clash between Christians and Muslims was prevented, police said.
Across the country thousands attended mass prayers in churches paying tribute to Bishop John Joseph (62), a human rights activist, who had been at the forefront of the campaign to repeal the blasphemy law.
The bishop shot himself dead outside the court of a sessions judge in the Punjab city of Sahiwal late on Wednesday, police said.
He was protesting over the death penalty ordered by Judge Rana Abdul Ghaffar, on Ayub Masih (25) in Sahiwal last month for remarks allegedly defaming the prophet Muhammed.
In statements, Christian bodies demanded the law be revoked immediately and the government order a high-level inquiry into the death of the bishop.
Trouble broke out as the body of Bishop John Joseph arrived in the industrial city of Faisalabad, where he will be buried tomorrow, police said.
The coffin was brought to Faisalabad in Punjab province in a motorcade from the village of Khushpur, the birthplace of the bishop.
Authorities mediated a dispute between mourners who wanted the bishop buried in Khushpur and others who wanted him buried in Faisalabad, where he had worked.