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Pakistani Christian Shopkeeper Beaten and Arrested for Blasphemy

seniorSOY — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:00:02 +0000

A typical shop in Faisalabad, Pakistan

Washington, D.C. – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that police arrested Imran John, a 22-year-old shopkeeper, for blasphemy on July 1 in Faisalabad, Pakistan.

Imran was arrested after he was accused by Haji Liaqat, a neighboring Muslim shopkeeper, of burning pages of the Qur’an. Imran had been cleaning his small grocery shop and took the trash out to the street to burn – a common method of disposing of garbage in Pakistan. Haji saw him doing this, and went and told some other Muslims that Imran had desecrated the Qur’an.

Immediately a crowd of Muslims gathered, grabbed Imran, and started beating him. Some bystanders, both Christian and Muslim, ran up to help and called the police. The police soon arrived and took Imran into custody.

Hundreds of Muslims gathered later that day after imams announced over mosque loudspeakers that a Christian had blasphemed Islam. The mob blocked roads, burned tires, and demanded that Imran be put to death.

Karamat Gill, a Christian social worker from Imran’s neighborhood, told ICC, “We have lived in the area peacefully with Muslims for decades and nothing like this has ever happened here. There must be a conspiracy behind this.”

Christian leaders are urging calm and asking Muslims to let the police investigate the matter. The Christians maintain, though, that the police arrested Imran after the mobs gathered, conducted no investigation, and are holding him with no proof.

ICC Calls on Pakistan President to Defend Christians

seniorSOY — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:40:02 +0000

Washington, D.C. – International Christian Concern (ICC) is calling on Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari to defend religious freedom by taking swift measures to prosecute the Muslim mobs that attacked Christian neighborhoods near Faisalabad, Pakistan, burning over 100 homes and killing at least eight Christians in two related attacks occurring on July 31 and August 1.

The first riot began in Korian on Friday, July 31, a day after local Muslims accused a man of desecrating the Qur’an. Muslim clerics decried Talib’s “blasphemy” and called for his death. A mob then gathered and looted and burned two churches and 75 of the 80 Christian houses in the village, setting up barricades to impede fire engines and burning alive domestic animals in the process.

Unsatisfied with the wreckage of Korian, the clerics and several radical groups incited a second mob to gather in Gojra on Saturday morning. They advanced through the neighborhood shooting in the air, throwing chemical and petrol bombs on houses, and looting indiscriminately. The mob attacked the residence of the Bishop of the Church of Pakistan, and again set up barricades in the street to prevent firefighters from reaching the burning houses. Three churches were also destroyed.

Seven of those killed were from the same family, including two children. They lived in Gojra and were burnt alive as they tried to escape their house, which the Muslim mob – estimated to be at least three thousand strong – looted and then set alight. The last confirmed casualty was found in the ashes of his house, burnt nearly beyond recognition.

ICC sources indicate that 35 Christians were critically injured, and 45 women and children were missing after the attack.

Christians have experienced severe discrimination at the hands of the current provincial government before, which under Shahbaz Sharif refused to publish or act on an investigation into the burning of a Christian village in 1997. This has created an atmosphere of impunity, and if the highest authorities in Pakistan ignore the current incident it will lead to repeat attacks throughout the country.

ICC urges all concerned parties to call the Embassy of Pakistan to express their opposition to this egregious violation of religious freedom and urge the President to take immediate action to prosecute the leaders of the mob, especially the radical clerics who called for the attacks.

Pakistan Embassies:

USA: (202) 243-6500
Canada: (613) 238-7881
UK: 0870-005-6967

Attacks on Christians in Pakistan Condemned by AJC

seniorSOY — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:17:53 +0000

NEW YORK /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The American Jewish Committee (AJC) expressed grave concern for the safety of Pakistan’s Christian minority, after the brutal murder of a family by a Muslim mob. The grandfather was shot dead and the other six family members, including two children, died after their house was set on fire. More than 100 Christian houses were burned or looted over the last three days.

“The Christian community in Pakistan is now more vulnerable than ever,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris. “There can be no excuse for the wanton, indiscriminate assault on this or any other minority group — and this is not the first time that Christians in Pakistan, a U.S. ally, have been targeted either.” Christians comprise about 5 percent of Pakistan’s population.

The unprovoked violence in the Punjab province began before the weekend after a rumor spread that a copy of the Koran had been defiled at a Christian wedding. Under Pakistan’s much-criticized blasphemy laws, desecration of the Koran can result in life imprisonment and even death for defiling the name of Mohammed, the prophet of the Islamic faith.

But, Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s federal minister for minorities, said the allegation that sparked the rampage was baseless, and that no desecration had taken place.

While hundreds of rioters have been detained, and the Pakistan government reportedly will offer compensation to the victims, Harris said, “It is time to heed the calls of many in Pakistan to repeal the blasphemy laws that may well have served to fuel this anti-Christian violence.”