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November 14, 2005

Pakistan: Muslim Persecution of Christians

We brought you the story of the rioting in Sangla Hill, 80 miles northeast of Lahore, where Muslims rampaged through a Christian community. The rioting started after rumours were spread that a Christian man had burned copies of the Koran.

The claim of burning of the Korans has still to be verified, though the Christian man, Yousaf Maseh, is in custody. Other counter-rumours claim that the allegations were made when two Muslims lost to Maseh in gambling, and found a convenient way to avoid paying their debts. Today, the Telegraph reports that both the Christians and local police now agree that this how the rumours originated.

The Telegraph has interviews with the Christiians who were affected by the Muslim violence. Father Samson Dilawar, the Catholic parish priest of the church of Nazooli-i-Rooh said: ""I heard the mullahs had been telling people over loudspeakers, 'We are guardians of the Koran and it is our foremost duty to teach a lesson to those kafirs', then they came to my door."

Father Dilawar's residence had chemicals doused upon it, and it was set ablaze, along with St Anthony's primary school, the church, convent boarding house and medical centre. Statues of Christ had their feet snapped off, crucifixes were bent, and habits of nuns burned.

The rioters had been shouting insults, such as "kafirs", "chucha" (meaning non-Muslims and untouchables) and "kuta" (dogs).

Reverend Tajmal Pervez, of the Presbyterian church said that, in a century in which local Christians had been living in the region, this was the worse incident so far. All that remained of his church was a smouldering wreck. Three other churches on the outskirts of Sangla Hill were also attacked.

One tenth of Sangla Hill's inhabitants are Christian, and the town is in the centre of a region of Punjab where Sunni and Shia Muslim tensions have been rising, along with increases of Muslim and Christian friction.

Yesterday, according to Baku Today, Christians in Sangla Hill who lost their churches conducted their services in the open air, wearing black armbands. Akram Gill, a Christian member of Parliament, said: "A Muslim cobbler and a goldsmith lost money to the accused Yousaf Masih in gambling. They refused to pay the money and created this nuisance."

The blasphemy laws, where someone who insults Islam can receive the death penalty, have been used by Muslims as a pretext to engage in sectarian attacks against Christians. Four leading Christians declared at a meeting in Lahore yesterday that these laws should be immediately repealed.

The location of this unrest is 30 miles from Faisalabad where the second Pakistan/England cricket Test Match is due to be held next Sunday. Pakistani officials have said that the problem is under control, but these reassurances should not be trusted.

Shahbaz Bhatti of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance said about the Sangla Hill rioting "The police stood by and ignored pleas for help, meaning that they too are culprits in this conspiracy."

Christians comprise only 3% of the population, but their predicament has become more intense recently. We detailed the case of two young Christians who had rape attacks as an attempt to convert them to Islam. Riqba Masih is still trying to get her rape case heard, despite threats and intimidation. 12-year old Sara Tabasum claims she was repeatedly raped and threatened with death if she did not convert to Islam.

On Christmas Day, 2002, a grenade attack upon a Christian church in Chianwala, 40 miles north of Lahore, claimed the lives of three girls, aged 6, 10 and 15, and wounded 11 people.

In September 2002, 7 Christian charity workers were killed in a gun attack at the office of their charity, and in August of that year, four Islamists with AK 47 asault rifles attacked a Christian school, 35 miles north-east of Islamabad, killing six people.

In October 2001 16 people were killed by Islamic gunmen in a Bahawalpur church.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at November 14, 2005 9:09 AM

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