tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81772362775643557002024-03-05T05:33:25.912-08:00Life of a Pakistani ChristianLife of a Pakistani ChristianPakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-31978657600733047672011-10-18T13:40:00.000-07:002011-10-18T13:40:49.801-07:00False news of Nigerian Christians being burnt<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">An image of burnt people has been circulating on Facebook with thousands of people sharing the image without realizing that it is not been reported in mainstream media at all and so they did not even confirm it's authentication.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Incident of July 03 2010 is the <b>explosion of a Tanker in Congo</b> resulting in the death of 235 people and injuring 190.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The same image has been shared on walls of many people claiming the image to be from Nigeria where Christians have been burnt either in a Church or a village. Nigeria has a record of assault on Christians and so it was easy for many to believe it to be a real incident.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Praise and Thank the Lord; that it never happened.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We request you all not to spread False news without checking first.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGdf3CyRXrIiko7Bkw06GPVxWDAZrL6cgtQSBwbaDrDdmKm1xl3rL6DQxemp5QyMKeEyqV9G82Sbc_zn-nrRblgL3P9xgQz4W6x-lD3TFyxLEzMfhjGch4Dlg6gwiKB1mUSeEut9k4DRnJ/s1600/Congo-burn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGdf3CyRXrIiko7Bkw06GPVxWDAZrL6cgtQSBwbaDrDdmKm1xl3rL6DQxemp5QyMKeEyqV9G82Sbc_zn-nrRblgL3P9xgQz4W6x-lD3TFyxLEzMfhjGch4Dlg6gwiKB1mUSeEut9k4DRnJ/s320/Congo-burn.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Here is a link of the incident in Congo:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/03/congo-tanker-blast-kills-200">http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/03/congo-tanker-blast-kills-200</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10497716">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10497716</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Here is a video:</span><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/pKlkVKyJZfI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
</div>Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-82362411379101916152011-10-07T23:11:00.000-07:002011-10-07T23:12:21.912-07:0045 heavily armed men attack Christians, one murdered, 21 injured<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Muslims in Punjabs’s Mian Channu area shot dead an unarmed Christian man and injured 21 others, six of them
critically, in an attempted land-grab on Wednesday (Oct. 5).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Residents of the area said that 40 to 45
heavily-armed Muslims on 10 to 12 motorcycles, two tractor-trolleys and
in a car reached Chak 134-16/L village, in Khanewal district, and
forcibly entered the home of <b>Adeel Kashif</b>, a Christian carpenter who was
living on a government-owned piece of land.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“The attackers forced their way into Kashif’s house and started
throwing the family’s belongings onto the street,” <b>Wazir Masih, a
Christian elder in the area</b>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>“They also tore the clothes
off Kashif’s three female family members – Violet, 40, Parveen, 35, and
Esther, 17, and tortured the family.”</b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Masih said the assailants wanted to take illegal possession of the
18-marla piece of land (in Pakistan, one marla equals 30.25 square
yards).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>“Since pre-partition days, a piece of government land is given to
Kammis [laborers or craftsmen] for residence, and in return they help
the villagers in whatever way they can,” </b>Masih said. “This allotment is
made with the complete consensus of the villagers.”</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Before Kashif, a Muslim carpenter named Muhammad Iqbal was allowed to live on the property, he said.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“Iqbal lived there for over 10 years and moved out about two months
ago,” Masih said. “However, before leaving he prepared fake papers of
the land in connivance with the Patwari [local revenue officer] and a
local Muslim group and ‘sold’ it to them for 130,000 rupees [US$1,480],”
Masih said, adding that the entire process was fraudulent because no
one can sell the government’s land in a personal capacity.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">He said that on Wednesday (Oct. 5), <b>armed Muslims led by men of the
area’s powerful Jagrane family </b>arrived at the house and tried to force
the Christians out.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“Kashif’s neighbors and some other villagers came out of their homes
on hearing the commotion,” Masih said. “The village comprises about <b>250
Christian families</b>, and some 90 to 100 people gathered there and tried
to persuade the Muslims not to dislodge the Christian carpenter
illegally. None of the Christians present there was carrying any weapon,
as no one was expecting such a harsh action by the Muslims.”</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Masih said the Muslims suddenly opened indiscriminate fire on the
Christians, instantly <b>killing 25-year-old Sajid Bashir Masih</b> and
seriously injuring 21 others, including women and children. He added
that six of the injured were in critical condition, one of them Sajid
Bashir Masih’s younger brother, Haroon.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“The Christians had done nothing to provoke the Muslims into
employing such brute force,” Wazir Masih said. <b>“They just opened fire on
the defenseless people with their automatic rifles and shotguns.”</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Masih said that as soon as Sajid Bashir Masih succumbed to his
injuries, some of the assailants fled the scene while others took refuge
inside Kashif’s house and started shooting at the villagers. He said
the villagers immediately informed police, who arrived soon from a
nearby station.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Police besieged the house and eventually managed to arrest 16 armed assailants, but the primary suspects remain free.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A First Information Report was registered against the attackers in
Mian Channu’s Saddar Police Station by the deceased’s father, Bashir
Masih, early yesterday (FIR No. 432 under sections 302, 324, 448, 511,
452, 148 and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Some of the injured Christians have been transferred to the District
Headquarters Hospital, while those with serious bullet wounds have been
admitted to the Nishtar Hospital in Multan.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A.D. Sahil, a Christian schoolteacher of the area said the Christians suspected police complicity in the incident.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">“The police station is just a couple of kilometers away, yet such a
large group of heavily-armed Muslims managed to reach our village in
broad daylight,” </span>he said, adding that there was tension between the two
communities since the killing, and police have been deployed in the
village. “The district police chief and the district’s administrative
head reached the village soon after the incident and held negotiations
with us.”</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">He added that, in view of the history of bitter inter-religious
relations in the area, government officials have given assurances of
protection to local Christians. The village is near Shantinagar, a
Christian village attacked by thousands of Islamist extremists on Feb.
6, 1997.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Muslims burned down 785 houses and four churches, and more than
2,500 Christians had to flee following allegations that a Christian
villager had blasphemed against the Muslim prophet, Muhammad.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-20288554295822476762011-10-07T22:59:00.000-07:002011-10-07T23:23:46.357-07:00Armed group kills Christian over disputed land in Mian Channu<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Lahore – Sabir Masih, a Pakistani Christian living in Mian Channu, a
town in Khanewal District (Punjab), was brutally murdered Wednesday night over a
land dispute. A dozen people were injured. According to sources, a local
Church had bought the land to build an orphanage, but an influential
local feudal lord, <b>Muhammad Ali Durrani</b>, wanted to claim the land. <br />
<br />
Local residents say the land mafia is strongly back by the influential feudal lord and they tried to
take the land bought by the Church. On Monday, local residents submitted
an application at the local police station against Durrani and his
associates, but police tried to pressure them and threatened them to
withdraw their complaint. <br />
<br />
On Wednesday, arriving by car, armed men attacked locals, <b>murdered
Sabir Masih</b>, and injured over a dozen other residents including
children. They also took over the land. <b>Police did not register a First
Information Report (FIR) </b>about the anti-Christian attack.<br />
<br />
The Catholic Church in Khanewal has condemned the latest incident and called for immediate action. <br />
<br /><b>
“We strongly condemn this murder,”</b> Fr Ilyas John from Khanewal said.
“This is not the first incident of land grabbing in the district,” he said “Influential feudals target the weak and the vulnerable.”<br />
<br />
The local Church does not have a big congregation but bought the land to
build an orphanage. However, it should have given greater consideration
to the organizational capacity needed in taking such a step because
<b>“the land mafia in this region is very strong</b> and they keep an eye on
such projects as they are an easy catch,” the clergyman explained.</span></div>
Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0Mian Channu, Pakistan30.43648 72.34397930.409099 72.304497 30.463860999999998 72.383461000000011tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-79518953939017637222011-10-07T22:40:00.000-07:002011-10-07T22:40:39.156-07:00Church of Scotland Trust asks help to stop illegal property sales<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Islamabad—Church of Scotland Trust has sought the help of the Government
to stop the illegal sale of property of worship places of minorities
and denationalization of Murray College Sialkot, which was the property
of the Trust. A four member delegation of Church of Scotland Trust
headed by Dr. Peter J David, Attorney Church of Scotland in Pakistan
called on Minister of State for National Harmony, Akram Masih Gill here
on Thursday. Asia Secretary of Scotland world Mission Council, Mr. Sandy
and Dr. Andrew Macllen, President Church of Scotland World Mission
Council were also present in the meeting.<br /><br /> The delegation
apprised the minister of occupation of land allocated for worship places
of the minorities in Pakistan and added that property of Churches in
Sialkot , Daska, Jalapur Jattan and Wazirabad is being sold illegally.
The delegation informed the minister that Murray College and about 12
other Schools in the area of Sialkot were property of Church of Scotland
Trust and nationalized in the past.<br /><br /> The delegation requested
the minister to play role to stop the illegal sale of property of
Churches and denationalization of educational institutions, which were
the property of the Church of Scotland Trust. The minister said
government is trying its best to take steps for the social uplift of the
minorities in the country and assured the delegation to extend all
possible help to address the issue.</span></div>
Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-31967138797958521492011-10-02T18:53:00.000-07:002011-10-02T18:53:57.941-07:00Christian Mother of Five in Pakistan Alleges Rape<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_dateline"><span class="dateline"><span class="citydate_b">LAHORE, Pakistan, September 21</span> — </span></span><span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_body">A Christian
mother of five was allegedly raped by two Muslim men last week, and area
Islamists are threatening to harm her family if charges against the
suspects are not dropped, the woman and her husband.<br /> <br />
On Thursday (Sept. 15), the 32-year-old woman said, she was returning
home to Mustafabad, in Punjab Province’s Kasur district, from a garment
factory where she works. Two Muslims, identified only as <b>23-year-old
Bhallu and 27-year-old Shera,</b> along with an unidentified accomplice,
allegedly abducted her at gunpoint, took her to an abandoned house in
the area and raped her, she said.<br /> <br /> Working late, she had
reached the <b>Mustafabad bus stop</b> at 11:45 p.m. and had begun walking to
her home five minutes away; the street was deserted, said the alleged
victim, whose name is withheld. <br /> “As soon as I entered our street,
Bhallu appeared from the shadows and put his hand on my mouth,” she told
Compass by phone. “A second person, who I later recognized as Bhallu’s
friend Shera, came from behind and put a pistol on my temple. A third
person also appeared on the scene, and together they first gagged me and
then forcibly took me to an abandoned house. I tried my best to get
free from their hold and save myself, but they were too powerful for
me.” <br /> <br /> Once inside, she said, they took off her gag, and she pleaded with them to leave her alone. <br /> <br />
“I tried screaming, but they hit me,” she said, sobbing. “Not for a
minute did they acknowledge that I was a mother to five children. Then
they raped me, one after the other. Their third accomplice stood guard
as they tore in on me like animals.”<br /> <br /> She said that her tormentors let her go after more than an hour. <br /> <br />
“They had torn my clothes, and I could barely step outside the house,”
she said. “I don’t know how I managed to reach my home … Words fail me
even now.”<br /> <br /> Muslim criminals in Pakistan, where the
population is more than 95 percent Muslim according to Operation World,
tend to assume they will not be prosecuted if their victims are
Christians. The accuser said Muslim men in the area have been harassing
Christian women for some time. <br /> <br /> “There are around 500
Christian houses in this area, which is predominantly inhabited by
Muslims,” she said. “There have been several instances when they have
publicly harassed us but have gotten away with it, because we keep
silent to avoid a clash.”<br /> <br /> A month ago, as she was returning
home from work, she was near her house when she suddenly felt someone
pulling her head scarf, she said. She turned and found one of Bhallu’s
friends holding the head scarf. <br /> <br /> “I started screaming, and
my husband and a neighbor rushed out, but the boy walked away as if
nothing had happened,” she said. “We did not say a word about this to
anyone out of shame and fear of the Muslims.”<br /> <br /> She said that after that incident, her husband, who works as a sweeper, began accompanying her to and from the bus stop. <br /> <br /> “But there were days when he could not accompany me to the bus stop, and I used to walk alone,” she said. <br /> <br /> Her husband, <b>Mushtaq Masih</b>, said that he was speechless after she told him about the ordeal. <br /> <br />
“We have five children – three boys and two girls – with the oldest
daughter studying in sixth grade – I cannot express the thoughts that
filled my mind at that time,” Masih said. “The Muslims had ruined us
completely, and I did not know what would happen to us if we reported
the crime, but seeing my wife devastated, I decided to face the
rapists.”<br /> <br /> He called police, who visited the crime scene and
took the woman to the hospital for a medical examination that proved she
had been gang-raped, he said. Police filed a First Information Report
(FIR No. 491/11) against Bhallu and his accomplices.<br /> <br /> The
woman said that she knew Bhallu only because he lived in her
neighborhood, and that although she recognized Shera, she did not know
his name until the FIR was filed. <br /> <br /> Masih said that Shera’s
name came up during the initial police investigation, and he was in
custody when the investigating officer asked Masih to bring his wife to
the police station to identify the suspects. Bhallu had fled the area.<br /> <br /> His wife said that as they reached the police station, Muslims warned the family against pointing out Shera. <br /> <br />
“They told us that they will kill my children and husband if I
identify Shera,” she said. “They said that we should not forget that we
are <i>chooras</i> [sweepers, a derogatory word for Christians] and
can bring no harm to them. They also warned that our daughters would
face a similar fate if we did not listen to them.”<br /> <br /> She refused to identify Shera and returned home, she said. <br /> <br />
“What happened to me should not happen to any of them,” she said. “My
children are my world, how could I put their lives in danger? … Please
pray that no woman suffers what I have been through.”<br /> <br /> <b>Pressure to Drop Charges</b>Area
Christians were shocked. The family continues to receive threats to
withdraw the case against the primary suspect, Bhallu, who has been seen
in the area several times though police have yet to arrest him, Masih
said.<br /> <br /> “Our Muslim neighbors are pressuring us to withdraw
the case,” he said. “They want us to reach an agreement with Bhallu and
his friends. They want us to ‘pardon’ the criminals who have dishonored
us.”<br /> <br /> Police are using delay tactics in the pursuit of Bhallu, Masih said.<br /> <br />
“We told the Mustafabad police in-charge that the Muslims are forcing
us to withdraw the case, but he is not bothered,” Masih said. He added
that some policemen had also asked him to withdraw the case, saying
there was little chance his wife would get justice. <br /> <br /> “They
asked me to take money in return for withdrawing the case,” Masih said.
“They want that I should sell my wife’s honor for money.”<br /> <br />
Investigating Officer Muhammad Sharif dismissed the Christians’
accusations that police had sought money in exchange for dropping the
case, and he refused to acknowledge that Muslims were threatening the
woman’s family and needed police protection.<br /> <br /> Sharif told Compass that police were trying to arrest Bhallu. <br /> <br /> “We took his father into custody but released him after interrogation,” he said. “I will soon catch hold of Bhallu.”<br /> <br /> Sharif said the investigation would accelerate after the primary suspect is arrested. <br /> <br />
As Masih and the few Christians daring to support him ponder their
next step, the woman maintains a faint hope of getting justice in a
country where Christians have little legal or societal standing. Mukhtar
Masih, an elder of the area Presbyterian church, said the Christians
were helpless as the Muslims held sway over local police.<br /> <br />
“Several Christian women have complained that the Muslims have harassed
them, but this is something that we have to live with every day,” he
said, adding that even though the community was shocked, no one was
coming forward to help the family because “they are afraid of the
Muslims.” <br /> <br /> Area resident Arif Masih told Compass that the Christians’ fears were understandable. <br /> <br />
“We don’t have anyone who can face the police and the Muslims,” he
said. “What happened to Masih’s wife is very tragic and can happen to
any one of us, but is there really anything we can do about it?”<br /> <br /> </span></span>
</div>
</div>
Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0Kasur, Pakistan31.117611 74.44995131.0904235 74.410468999999992 31.1447985 74.489433tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-19492567381640017832011-10-02T17:16:00.000-07:002011-10-02T17:16:50.301-07:00Christian Nurse in Pakistan Boldly Opts to Report Videotaped Rape<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_dateline"><span class="dateline"><span class="citydate_b">LAHORE</span><span> — </span></span></span><span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_body">A Christian
nurse filed a police report on Sept. 3 alleging she was
raped by a Muslim colleague who filmed the act in an attempt to
blackmail her into renouncing her faith and marrying him, she and
hospital sources told Compass. <br /> <br /><b>Shaista Samuel,</b> a
27-year-old nurse at the Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS),
filed a First Information Report (FIR) at Shadman police station
accusing <b>Ali Adnan,</b> an <b>assistant accounts officer</b> at the hospital, and
an armed accomplice of abducting her at gunpoint from the government
hospital on Aug. 21 and taking her to a house in Lahore where Adnan’s
accomplice filmed the rape.<br /> <br />“[Adnan] was holding my arm
tightly and forcibly led me to a white car in the parking lot,” Samuel
said in tears, adding that as they approached the car, Adnan’s
accomplice came out of the shadows and placed a handgun to her head.
“Adnan said that they would shoot me if I raised my voice. I was in
complete shock … my senses went numb, and I could not believe this was
happening to me. They took me to a house in WAPDA Town [for housing
Water and Power Development Authority workers in Lahore], where Adnan
raped me while his friend filmed the entire incident. They ruined my
life completely.”<br /> <br />Christians have little legal or societal
standing in Pakistan, and Muslim criminals tend to assume they will not
be prosecuted if their victims are Christians.<br /> <br />Samuel said she had worked several years at the hospital on good terms with Adnan. <br /> <br />“I
thought of him as a good friend, since we were working together… he
used to visit my home often and was known to my family,” she said.<br /> <br />Recently, however, Adnan had begun acting strangely toward her, she said.<br /> “He started criticizing Christians for not observing the <em>purdah</em>
[covering of women] and of following our ‘own brand of religion,’” she
said. “One day when I was least expecting it, he told me that he had
started liking me and that I should convert to Islam and marry him. I
told him that I had always considered him just a friend, and that
although I held him in great regard, marrying him was not possible since
we belonged to different faiths.” <br /> <br />Adnan began harassing her at the workplace and by telephone, she said. <br /> “He
used to block my way at the hospital, and then one day he forced his
way into my house and threatened me and my family, saying that he would
not rest until they marry me to him,” she said. “He was acting like a
mad man … He started cursing my family and even tried to set the house
on fire.”<br /> <br />Disturbed by Adnan’s obsessive behavior, Samuel
said that she tried her best not to come into any sort of contact with
him. On Aug. 21, however, as soon as she entered the hospital he
approached her from behind and forced her to sit in a car in the
hospital’s parking area, she said. <br /> <br />“All this while, he
told me not to make a commotion as it would only create an embarrassing
situation for me,” she said. “He said he just wanted to talk to me to
‘clear up some misunderstandings.’”<br /> He then led her to the
white car, and the accomplice appeared. Samuel said the two men held her
for over an hour and then dropped her back at the hospital, telling her
that if she told anyone about the rape they would send the film to her
family and also upload it on social networking sites.<br /> In Pakistan, a rape victim is generally considered too shamed to resume a normal life or pursue marriage.<br /> <br />“I
was devastated,” she said. “I wanted the earth to open up and swallow
me. I did not share my ordeal with any person, not even my parents. I
did not have the courage to tell them that their daughter had been
dishonored, and decided to keep my misery to myself … I could not see my
father and brothers face the shame brought by my bad luck.”<br /> Her misery did not end there – Adnan began trying to blackmail her by phone, she added. <br /> <br />“At
first he demanded that I convert to Islam, and only then would he
consider forgiving me for refusing his proposal,” she said. <br /> <br />When
she refused, he began demanding sexual favors and threatening to come
to her house and show the film to her family – Pakistanis tend to shame
the victims rather than the perpetrators of rape – but Samuel refused to
be manipulated by his threats, she said.<br /> <br />“My defiance
angered Adnan to such an extent that one evening he turned up at my home
and showed the film to my parents,” Samuel said. “He then told my
shocked family that they had no other option but to hand me over to him
... he told them that he ‘owned’ me now.”<br /> <br />Adnan left the house, leaving the family, members of Church of Pakistan-affiliated St. Andrews Church, in deep anguish. <br /> <br />“We
had a very tough decision to make,” Samuel said. ‘We could have either
conceded to his demand or be ready to face the shame and dishonor by
reporting his crime, but we chose the latter. Adnan must be punished for
ruining my life. I thank God that he rescued me from Adnan’s
blackmailing, otherwise I would have remained in mental agony for the
rest of my life.” <br /> Compass tried to reach Adnan for comment, but he was unavailable as he had turned off his cell phone.<br /> <br />Although
Shaista and her family have filed an FIR with police, getting justice
without higher government help may be difficult. At press time police
had yet to arrest the two suspects, who fled their homes soon after the
registration of the case and have managed to obtain pre-arrest bail.<br /> “The
police deliberately gave them time to get interim bails,” Samuel said.
“My father and brothers have been going to the police station every day
to ask them to record the statements of the accused, but the
investigating officer of the case is using delay tactics. I’ve been
asked ridiculous questions about the incident, but I will not be
discouraged from seeking justice.”<br /> <br />Samuel said she was
tired of suspicious and questioning eyes at her workplace and has taken
leave from the hospital. The administration has formed a committee to
probe into the matter.<br /> “I am sick and tired of people
staring at me and asking questions,” she said, adding that after she
took leave, no one from the hospital administration had contacted her
though she had heard of the committee’s formation. The two-member
committee includes SIMS medical Superintendent Muhammad Javaid and the
hospital’s finance director. <br /> </span></span>
</div>
</div>
Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0Lahore, Pakistan31.54505 74.34068331.3285385 74.024826 31.7615615 74.656539999999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-59367356963141505282011-10-02T17:12:00.000-07:002011-10-02T17:12:47.722-07:00Many of Pakistan’s Christian Flood Victims Still Homeless<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_dateline"><span class="dateline"><span class="citydate_b">LAHORE- </span><span> </span></span></span><span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_body">Many
Christians living in the southern belt of Pakistan’s Punjab Province who
lost their houses in last year’s floods remain homeless despite a plan
by the Punjab government to allocate land to residents in the area, area
Christians said.<br /> <br /> <b>Hameed Masih</b>, a resident of Kot Addu in
Muzaffargarh district, said the provincial government has not set a
quota for granting of land to members of minority communities left
homeless by the devastating floods that began in late July 2010.<br /> <br />
The government has begun four plans in Kot Addu under which around 435
plots of five marlas (151 square yards) each were to be distributed
among people who lost their property. Several people were allotted land
last month, but so far no minority member has been given land, he said.<br /> <br />
“Christians in this area are not rich people,” Masih said. “They lost
their houses and lands in the floods and should have been given a 5
percent quota in the scheme. Flood victims could have been easily
accommodated, but the quota system has not been followed, and thus no
minority member has been allotted land.”<br /> <br /> Aid distribution was also initially unfair, he said.<br /> <br /> “There were some problems in the beginning, but then minority members protested and the issue was resolved,” he said. <br /> <br /> Masih added that Christian families in his village are receiving monthly stipends from the government. <br /> <br />
The list of homeless people was prepared by local land revenue
officers who did not do so fairly, said another Christian. Sarwar Masih
said he does not have property and does menial work for a living, but
his name was not included in the list by the land revenue officers, or
patwaris. <br /> <br /> “Patwaris had to refer our names to higher
authorities, but the names of those who could not ‘make them happy’ were
not included in the list,” he said. “My name was not in the list, so I
had no hope of getting land, though being homeless I fulfill the
criteria.”<br /> <br /> Areas where plots have been allotted include
Gurmani Sharki, Jandeer Dueaja, Chak 568 and Chowk Sarwar Shaheed. There
are some <b>8,500 registered minority voters</b>, mostly Christians and
Hindus, in these areas, with the total minority population said to be
around 18,000.<br /> <br /> “Several people who have been allotted plots
under this scheme already have plenty of resources and land, while those
who do not have property have been ignored,” said a Christian
identified only as Wasim, who is minorities coordinator of Kot Addu. <br /> <br />
He added that one person who owns 22 acres of agricultural land has
been allotted more land under the government rehabilitation plan.<br /> <br />
<b>Napoleon Qayyum,</b> a minority rights activist and leader of the
Minorities Wing of the Pakistan People’s Party, said that under
Pakistan’s constitution, minorities should be given a 5 percent quota in
all government plans. He added that the Punjab government should adhere
to that quota as well.<br /> <br /> Officials from the local
administration responded to the allegations by saying they did not
directly handle flood rehabilitation, adding that plots were allotted to
homeless people through a lottery draw.<br /> <br /> Chaudhry Ehsanul
Haq Nolatia, a local Member of the Provincial Assembly from Kot Addu,
said a committee was formed to look into the allotment. <br /> <br /> <b>“It
is true that the government did not allocate any special quota for
minorities in the scheme, but the plots were distributed through a
draw,” he said.</b> <br /> <br /> He added that he would take up the issue in the Punjab Assembly.<br /> <br />
Flooding from monsoon rains affected the Punjab, Sindh, Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan regions and the Indus River basin,
submerging about one-fifth of Pakistan’s land. Close to 2,000 people
died, and some 20 million people lost their livelihood, property or
other infrastructure in the flooding.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span></div>
Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com1Lahore, Pakistan31.54505 74.34068331.3285385 74.024826 31.7615615 74.656539999999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-8006550408020060742011-10-01T20:03:00.000-07:002011-10-01T20:03:25.247-07:00Girl accused of blasphemy for a spelling error<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><strong class="location">ABBOTTABAD: </strong>
</span><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>It may have been a mere misplaced dot that led to accusations of <a href="http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/8158/blasphemy-for-8th-graders/">blasphemy against a Christian eighth-grader</a>, whose miniscule error led to her expulsion from school and uproar amongst local religious leaders.</strong></span><br />
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</span><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Faryal Bhatti,</b> a student at the Sir Syed Girls High School in
Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) colony Havelian, erroneously misspelt a
word in an Urdu exam while answering a question on a poem written in
praise of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The word in question was <b>‘laanat’
instead of ‘naat’</b> – an easy error for a child to make, as the written
versions of the words are similar.</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">According to the school administration and religious leaders who took
great exception to the hapless student’s mistake, the error is
‘serious’ enough to fall within the realm of blasphemy, Saturday.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Spelling out her punishment</strong><strong></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">On Thursday, Faryal’s Urdu teacher was collecting the answer sheets
from her students when she noticed the apparently offensive word on her
pupil’s sheet. The teacher, <b>Fareeda Bibi</b>, reportedly summoned the
Christian girl, scolded her and beat her. Her punishment, however, did
not end here. When Faryal’s class fellows learnt of the alleged
blasphemy, the teacher brought the principal’s notice to the matter, who
further informed the school management.</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">In the meanwhile, the news spread throughout the colony. The next
day, male students of the POF colony school as well as certain religious
elements took out a rally, demanding the registration of a criminal
case against the eighth-grader and her expulsion from the area.</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Prayer leaders within the community also condemned the incident in
their Friday sermons, asking the colony’s administration to not only
take action against Faryal but her entire family. In the wake of the
increasing tensions, Managing Director POF Colony Havelian Asif Siddiki
called a meeting of colony-based ulemas and school teachers to discuss
the situation. The girl and her mother were asked to appear before the
meeting, where they explained that it was a mere error, caused by a
resemblance between the two words. The two immediately apologised,
adding that Faryal had no malicious intentions.</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">In a move that was apparently meant to pacify the religious elements clamouring for <a href="http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/8151/niqab-blasphemy-and-the-life-of-an-8th-grader/">action against the teenage ‘blasphemer’,</a>
the POF administration expelled her from the school on Saturday. Faryal
was not the only one who got in trouble for her spelling error,
however, as her mother, Sarafeen Bhatti, who was a staff nurse at the
POF Hospital Havelian for several years, was immediately transferred to
POF Wah Cantonment Hospital.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Decision applauded</strong></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">While talking to <em>The Express Tribune</em>, <b>Maulana Alla Dita
Khateeb</b> of Gol Masjid praised the decision of the POF colony
administration, claiming that he had personally seen the answer sheet in
question. He further went on to say that he had met the girl himself,
who had apologised for the word used in error. Asked whether the
incident still fell within the realm of blasphemy and whether Faryal
deserved expulsion when she had misspelt the word unintentionally,
Khateeb said that although he was unclear about the intentions of the
girl, the word she had used was sacrilegious.</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The managing director of POF Colony was not available for comment.</span></div>
</div>
Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0Abbottābad, Pakistan34.1466667 73.216388934.094101699999996 73.1374249 34.1992317 73.2953529tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-51422838920764683402011-10-01T19:59:00.000-07:002011-10-01T19:59:03.087-07:00Minorities’ protection bill to be tabled in NA soon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for National Harmony Akram Masih Gill on Thursday said a minorities’ protection bill would soon be tabled in the National Assembly to introduce Marriage Registration Act for Sikh, Hindu, Parsi and Bahai communities in the country.</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">He expressed these views while talking to Australian High Commissioner Tim George who called on him here to discuss national harmony and minorities’ issues in Pakistan. Fiona Hamilton, Second Secretary Political of Australian High Commission, was also present on the occasion.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The minister hailed the interest of the Australian government for the welfare of minorities in Pakistan and government policy towards national harmony, adding, that the “government of Pakistan is committed to the uplift of minorities socially by economic empowerment and removing discriminatory actions against non-Muslims”.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Mr Gill said interfaith harmony was the top priority of the government which wanted to promote friendly relations between the country’s Muslims and non-Muslims. He said interfaith harmony committees were being re-activated at district levels for the purpose.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">He sought the help of the Australian government to provide clean drinking water to minority populated areas and to establish skill training centres in order to empower them economically.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The Australian ambassador said scholarships would also be ensured for students from religious minorities.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/08/minorities-protection-bill-to-be-tabled-in-na-soon.html">Source </a></span><br />
</div>
Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0Islamabad, Pakistan33.718151 73.06054733.612491999999996 72.9026185 33.82381 73.2184755tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-8142127990006973152011-10-01T19:13:00.000-07:002011-10-01T19:13:44.411-07:00Minority rights: Aiming for the stars, bounded by a wall<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><strong style="color: #555555; font-weight: bold;"><strong class="location" style="color: #555555; display: block; float: left; font-weight: bold;">ISLAMABAD: </strong>The Masihi Foundation School in France Colony is open for all but attended only by Christians. That is because France Colony, so-called because it is located in the area where the French Consulate used to be, is a walled-off parcel of land where some 600 Christians live segregated from the rest of Islamabad.</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">“People from outside the wall don’t want to come into the colony,” explains Xavier William, the country head for the Masihi Foundation. He compares the wall surrounding France Colony, which has only four entrances, to the Berlin Wall.</span></div>
<div style="border-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 7px 0px 0.3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong style="color: #555555; font-weight: bold;">Worthy aims, limited access</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Over 50 children sit in the classrooms of the school, which opened earlier this year and offers free education to anyone who wishes to enroll up to the primary level. The instruction is in English, making this a rare, English-medium school in a slum area and, as a student there says, they are given books, schoolbags and uniforms for free.</span></div>
<div style="border-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 7px 0px 0.3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The Masihi Foundation, says William, is combating extremism by “bridging the gaps between communities and strengthening the marginalised communities by providing education, training and skills.”</span></div>
<div style="border-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 7px 0px 0.3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Interestingly, the Masihi Foundation is also providing legal protection to Aasia Bibi, a Christian languishing in jail on blasphemy charges. In France Colony, these worthy aims are stymied by the fact that only Christians are attending the school.</span></div>
<div style="border-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 7px 0px 0.3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong style="color: #555555; font-weight: bold;">Squalid, congested</strong></span></div>
<div style="border-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 7px 0px 0.3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Ironically, France Colony is a squalid area, despite a majority of its residents working as cleaners for the Capital Development Authority. According to Yaqoob, a resident of the colony, the surrounding wall was built on the orders of influential Muslim residents in the area who didn’t want to have to pass through the area every day.</span></div>
<div style="border-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 7px 0px 0.3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Each family lives in a tiny room, with as many as eight people packed into the constricted space. Despite living here for decades, residents have not been given ownership rights to the land by the government. There is also no provision for clean water and the sewerage system is overloaded.</span></div>
<div style="border-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 7px 0px 0.3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Schooling options in France Colony are also severely limited. Nearby schools never give admission to the children from the colony and so they are forced to rely on charities, mostly those run by Christians. Rashida Bibi, a resident of the slum area, says that her daughter attends the Khatoon-e-Fatima School, a Catholic school run by nuns, and gets there courtesy a free bus service provided to France Colony children by NGO FemAid.</span></div>
<div style="border-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 7px 0px 0.3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Meanwhile, the school set-up by the Masihi Foundation is the only functioning school in the colony. Unlike the other schools opened by the foundation in Quetta, where both Christians and non-Christians are enrolled, the France Colony school seems destined to be limited only to this minority.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/252660/aiming-for-the-stars-bounded-by-a-wall/">Source </a></span></div>
</div>
Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-87912551619445373742011-10-01T19:12:00.000-07:002011-10-01T19:17:57.030-07:00Muslim Men Kidnap Pakistani Christian Girl to 'Purify Her'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Four Muslim abductors in Saleem Colony, within the jurisdictions of<b> Shisharwali Police Station Satellite Town, Gujranwala City </b>in the Punjab Province of Pakistan, allegedly kidnapped a Christian girl identified as Mehek (aged 14 years and 8 months), on Wednesday, August 17, 2011.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">AsiaNews reports that the girl was taken by the main Muslim man so he could <b>“purify her”</b> to make her “Muslim and my mistress.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">ANS was apprised of this crime by <b>Rashid Masih</b>, a Christian laborer and father of six, including Mehek, who all live in a rented house.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">According to our ANS investigation, the names of Rashid Masih’s family are: Mrs. Nasreen Bibi, his spouse, Masih’s abducted daughter Mehek, also daughter Soha, and sons Saul Masih and Usman Masih.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The abductors were said by eye-witnesses to be a young Muslim man, and his four accomplices who claimed they were armed with deadly weapons. They allegedly forced their way into the house of Rashid Masih brandishing their weapons in the air. The attack took place in broad daylight, and the assailants were said to have pointed a gun at the head of<b> Mehek</b>, and then forced her to climb aboard a white car.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">ANS has learned that the alleged abductors were chased by the eye-witnesses, but the armed Muslim men threatened them telling them to desist otherwise they would kill them. They also were said to have used a derogatory word for female Christians.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">On hearing the news, workers from the<b> All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA),</b> led by Khalid Gill, went to the local Police station, where, they said, police "reluctantly" registered the case against the perpetrators.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">On the instructions of the Station House Officer, a sub-inspector was deputed to probe into the issue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">However, APMA sources said they were “concerned” that although the case was lodged, no efforts were apparently being made to "nail" the alleged Muslim culprits.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">ANS was also told by locals that APMA head Dr. Paul Bhatti, has expressed his solidarity with the victim Christian family and pledged to extend all possible support and help towards them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Interviewed by AsiaNews, the Archbishop Emeritus of Lahore and former president of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference Mgr. Lawrence John Saldanha stresses that such cases are “common in Pakistan,” and families “can do little or nothing” to save the victims from their captors. He adds: “The Muslim family has an advantage, because the law favors them.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Rashid Masih, along with his family, had moved from Bawarey Village to Gujranwala city for the education and bright future of his Children, unaware that he would have to face such a fateful situation.</span></div>
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Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-38176426535520015372011-10-01T19:08:00.000-07:002011-10-01T19:08:43.775-07:00Blasphemy accused Aslam Masih dies in jail<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A Christian man accused of blasphemy in<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a class="topicLine" href="http://global.christianpost.com/region/pakistan/" style="color: #0156a2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Pakistan</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>died of tropical fever in prison on Sept. 9, after the prison authorities refused him treatment, <a href="http://global.christianpost.com/news/authorities-refused-treatment-to-christian-who-died-in-pakistan-prison-56025/">The Christian Post </a>has learned Tuesday.</h2>
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<b>Aslam Masih </b>died reportedly of the dengue virus, an infectious tropical disease.</div>
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Jonathan Racho, the Regional Manager for South Asia at the International Christian Concern (ICC), an advocacy group, told The Christian Post that a local<a class="topicLine" href="http://global.christianpost.com/topics/human-rights/" style="color: #0156a2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"> human rights</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>organization had appealed to the prison authorities to provide Masih with proper medical treatment, but the authorities refused, quoting security reasons.</div>
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“We’ve received the information last week, but we needed to confirm it with our local contact,” Racho told The Christian Post.</div>
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“If somebody’s in jail,” he commented on the incident. “The prison authorities have an obligation to provide that person with medical treatment. Otherwise it’s a violation of human rights. This was a preventable death.</div>
</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">The blasphemy law is one of the most controversial laws in Pakistan, according to Racho. It says that whoever offends Prophet Muhammad will face capital punishment.</span></h2>
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Masih was reportedly arrested in 2010 after having been accused of blasphemy by two members of the Tablighi Jammat, an Islamic group.</div>
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“Once again, Pakistan has shown its contempt for the lives of its religious minorities,” Racho wrote in a press release. “We urge the international community to pressure Pakistan protect the rights of Christians and other vulnerable groups in the country.”</div>
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Racho told The Christian Post that people are held accountable to the blasphemy law regardless of their religion, including Muslims, but that it is most often used to persecute religious minorities.</div>
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The incident added to a row of deaths and arrests related to the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a class="topicLine" href="http://global.christianpost.com/topics/persecution/" style="color: #0156a2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">persecution</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>of Christians in Pakistan in the past years.</div>
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In March, a Pakistani Christian man sentenced to a lifetime in prison for blasphemy was found dead in prison. The authorities said he had died of natural causes.</div>
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The man, <b>Qamar David</b>, had been accused of blasphemy by his business partner.</div>
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One of the most famous cases of the persecution of Christians in Pakistan is the case of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><strong class="keyword" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Asia Bibi</strong>, the first woman in that country to be sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy.</div>
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Bibi, still awaiting the solution of her case, had been accused of blasphemy by fellow field workers. A mother of five, she was sentenced to death by hanging for allegedly speaking ill of Prophet Muhammad. She denied the charges.</div>
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Ninety-five percent of Pakistan’s population is Muslim, with 75 percent Sunni and 20 percent Shia. Only five percent practice Christianity and Hinduism, according to the CIA fact book.</div>
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Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0Lahore, Pakistan31.54505 74.34068331.3285385 74.024826 31.7615615 74.656539999999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-79189531814303573032011-10-01T19:04:00.000-07:002011-10-01T19:04:13.519-07:00Man survives throat slit, reveals identity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Lahore - A young man, who was found with his throat slit open and hands tied at the Qartaba Chowk last week, miraculously survived after an operation at Services Hospital on Sunday, and revealed his identity to Pakistan Today as <b>Joseph Younis,</b> approximately 25 years old.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Unidentified men had tortured and left Joseph in the bushes on the green belt located on a junction where Ferozepur Road meets Jail Road. Joseph had been left to bleed to death with his throat slit open and hands tied. The police have not yet reached a breakthrough as the victim can not speak since his windpipe had been slit.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />In an exclusive meeting with Pakistan Today, the victim revealed his name after the doctor gave him a pen and a paper. The man wrote in English. In vague handwriting, he wrote that his name was Joseph Younis. The doctor then asked where he resided, to which he wrote 375 R Block Model Town.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />When the doctor inquired about the incident, he wrote a vague note out of which only two words are readable: “Sunny Earnest”.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />“It’s nothing less than a miracle,” said a doctor on duty in the surgical ICU. Doctors claimed that three-fifth of his neck, which includes the trachea (windpipe, which was cut completely) and some part of oesophagus (food pipe), was sliced by the criminals. But after an extensive surgery at Services Hospital on Saturday night, the man was declared out-of-danger but was shifted to the Surgical ICU, while maintaining a strong surveillance.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />“He can’t speak because of the depth of the cut, and due to the nature of the injury, we are advised to keep a close eye on him,” said the doctor. He said that his condition could flip back in danger without any warning. The doctors said that it could take several weeks before the man could start talking again as the cut was almost 1 inch deep. He said that the victim was still critically injured and would remain under surveillance until he was completely out of any threat.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />HISTORY: At around 8:20pm a call was received by the police from the Rescue 1122 staff. They informed the police that a man was found with his hands and feet tied together and his neck sliced open. “He was lying in his own blood,” said Sardar Jamil, the investigating officer of the case from the Lyton Road Police Station. He said that the Rescue 1122 staff, after completing procedural steps, rushed the man to the hospital where the doctors after hard work finally declared him out-of-danger.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Sardar Jamil, the investigation officer, while talking to <a href="http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2011/09/man-survives-throat-slit-reveals-identity/">Pakistan Today, </a>said that the man was still unidentified; neither any credentials were found from his pocket nor anyone came to ask about him. While answering a question, the IO said that the claimant of the FIR was Sub Inspector Khurshid Alam from the Lyton Road Police Station.</span></span></div>
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Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-1700633973967023622011-10-01T18:54:00.000-07:002011-10-01T18:55:49.962-07:00800 Christians left homeless<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lahore- </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> 800+ Christians from 104 families living in the Ittehad Colony slum along the Rohi Nullah have nowhere to go after the Nishtar Town administration demolished their homes two weeks ago to make way for an alternate road to the new fruit and vegetable market.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">The slum area situated beside Ferozepur Road, was given only a day’s notice to vacate their homes. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">“We were in the process of dragging out our belongings when the bulldozers arrived…the authorities did not even give us time to pack our stuff properly and started demolishing our homes,” a resident said. However, army bunkers and a church located in the area were not demolished after the residents said they would not tolerate desecration of their church.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />“We let them destroy our homes but they will have to demolished</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">W<b>e let them destroy our homes but they will have to demolish the church over our dead bodies,” </b>Rani, a resident, told <a href="http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2011/09/left-homeless-%E2%80%98just-on-a-day%E2%80%99s-notice%E2%80%99/">Pakistan Today</a>. “We built the church with our own hands over the last seven years. It is the pride and centre of our community,” she added. As the bulldozers tore down houses and moved towards the church, some women gathered in front of the building while others took shelter inside, weeping and chanting slogans. Their protest forced the authorities to postpone the demolition of the church, at least for now.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Police officials present on the scene said </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">they had been instructed to protect the church and assured that it would not be demolished. Residents said Ittehad Colony was settled when residents shifted from Sabzazar 13 years ago when the same families were rendered helpless in another anti-encroachment operation ordered by the Sharif brothers. Another resident, Hakim Naseer said, “They should have stopped us from settling here in the first place or relocated us, but they did no such thing and we are undergoing the same process again.”</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div><div id="newsdetail" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="newsformatdetail" style="line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">After the operation, residents sat on their salvaged possessions with tears in their eyes. Sitting on a small stool, a young girl, Fauzia said, “We are Pakistani, and are loyal to it, but if they don’t want us here they should just throw us out of the country.” Residents expressed their helplessness as they slept without cover last night, and look forward to these nights continuing since most cannot afford rents. Hakim said, “If we had been given a month or two’s notice and been allotted an alternate location, we would have been able to make alternative arrangements.”</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Ittehad Colony President Salamat Pardesi said, “A meeting with the AC was scheduled on Friday but we were later told he was out of city. We asked for time but an official came to the colony the same day and told us our houses would be destroyed at 8am on Saturday.” He said, “We had no forewarning and would have asked for more time and an alternate location. We were already relocated from Sabzarar under similar pretexts.” Kahna Police Sub-Inspector Saeed said they had been officially assigned to provide security to the bulldozers and TMO staff.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">He claimed that the residents had been warned to vacate the area a few weeks ago. Residents, however, deny that they had been issued any official notice other than the one-day warning. “They are lying…if we had received the notice a week ago we would have surely made alternate arrangements,” Pardesi said. Usman Liaqat, revenue officer of Nishtar Town, said he was not aware of the status of the residents, adding that he had only carried out the instructions of the Model Town AC.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Model Town Assistant Commissioner Irfan Memon said the operation was conducted to clear the Rohi Nullah of illegal settlements to construct a road from Ferozepur Road to Defence Road to aid traffic to the relocated fruit and sabzi mandi at Katcha Kahna. He said the residents had been informed at least three times last month to relocate but they had not heeded the warning. He said the settlement had no legal status and was situated on irrigation land. He also claimed that 30-40 houses were destroyed by the residents themselves.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">He said that there was no resettlement plan for the residents since it was an illegal settlement, however, he said residents had been asked to file an application for the consideration of the authorities’ concerned. He said further that the Christians had also agreed to demolish the church themselves.</span></div></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span id="commentssection" style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span></div><div id="idc-noscript" style="display: block; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div id="comments" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span id="commentssection" style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span></div></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div></div>Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-89307647129639219562011-07-23T05:00:00.000-07:002011-07-23T07:22:11.188-07:00APCL launched in Islamabad<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQKwCt572wx0rKULE-QYRSpES7qgmyXsi9KU-16rDp6xoiduWaC23HNqHurnuTAOMChslYfJEA-igH0kw1Fwmz6as2c031qtqjvQgp1A_VBSjJ2e0grQwcVvl-pMd9DV92XhtCXVNAVs3X/s1600/APCL-launch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQKwCt572wx0rKULE-QYRSpES7qgmyXsi9KU-16rDp6xoiduWaC23HNqHurnuTAOMChslYfJEA-igH0kw1Fwmz6as2c031qtqjvQgp1A_VBSjJ2e0grQwcVvl-pMd9DV92XhtCXVNAVs3X/s400/APCL-launch.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A new political party has been launched by <b>Professor Salamat Khokhar</b> and Denmark based lawyer<b> Nawaz Salamat.</b><br />
Professor Salamat is a well known and respected individual of the Christian community in Pakistan and is the founding chairperson of the <b>All Pakistan Christian League (APCL)</b> whereas Nawaz Salamat has been appointed as the Co-chairman of the party meant to be the only Christian political party.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Professor Akhtar said <i>“APCL will be the first representative party in Pakistan purely for Christians since 1972”. </i></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The party's manifesto is based on Quaid-e-Azam's vision of equality for all citizens of Pakistan.</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The party’s agenda is ensuring unity and well-being of the Christian community, education for all, repeal discriminatory laws, integrity and well being of Christian women, youth, farmers and labourers. The party will also strive for democracy and right of double vote for non-Muslims, shelter to homeless Christians, accurate census of Christians community and one-fourth share in federal as well as provincial services.</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The website of APCL is underway to interact with the party and will welcome suggestions for better functioning of the party. The party hopes to complete legal formalities soon.</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nazim Sajjad has been nominated as president of APCL Islamabad chapter, </div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Zeeshan Joseph as president of Punjab chapter, </div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">James Allah Ditta, president Rawalpindi chapter, </div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hubert George, president for US chapter, </div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Chaudhry Yousuf Akhtar, president for Germany chapter. </div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
The flag of the newly formed party is described as:<i><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText">The importance of our flag.</span></i></div><br />
<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8VhycEDkeK8vmJuRpRjcPaatIdj2qQJibkKaR_C7f0KEbm80Be-Rs_Gaw7ZPdiPPDxYqcREOUMOoK2FBx5lKM1Pgqw2423U8ZwiNhzTgLGFL1gXsHQRt3dAzToGo4F1Nlbr01cmRnFNUp/s1600/APCL-flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8VhycEDkeK8vmJuRpRjcPaatIdj2qQJibkKaR_C7f0KEbm80Be-Rs_Gaw7ZPdiPPDxYqcREOUMOoK2FBx5lKM1Pgqw2423U8ZwiNhzTgLGFL1gXsHQRt3dAzToGo4F1Nlbr01cmRnFNUp/s200/APCL-flag.jpg" width="200" /></a> <i><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText">The bright star in the white portion of the flag represents Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior Who is the bright star of the line of David a Great Prophet and King.The scientists are of the view the Crescent has no light at all therefore it is the light of our star that generates Prosperity in Pakistan. The white part signifies peace and Justice. It also stands for Minorities.<br />
A very important message of the white part of our flag is Equality. It means that we are equal citizens of our motherland and nobody is superior to us in Pakistan.<br />
<br />
The idea of Pakistan was depending on Equality but a very sad fact is that we are never treated as equal citizen therefore we will continue our struggle for equal rights in Pakistan.</span> </i></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
<b>Nawaz Salamat</b> has been networking aggressively on Facebook to interact and connect to Pakistani Christians around the globe receiving praises and many times criticism, however unable to conquer his enthusiasm and spirit to move forward and lay the foundation stone for a new beginning.</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div>Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-79134723576868420522011-07-06T20:10:00.000-07:002011-07-06T20:13:54.426-07:00Clerics refuse to remove 'Jihad verses' from school curriculum<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A group of clerics <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/203192/education-policy-the-clergys-latest-jihad/#.ThQSJPFzih0.facebook">attacked</a> a government school breaking windows and later protested against the suggested removal of Quranic verses pertaining to <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/201842/uniting-theme-wahhabis-barelvis-on-same-page-on-curricula/">jihad from the school curriculum</a>, resulting in </span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">two students injuried after glass fell on them a</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">ccording to a school administrator, </span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">16 clerics in Rahim Yar Khan protested on Monday afternoon against the proposed removal of the verses.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i>“If the Education Board thinks that it can educate our children by denying them proper knowledge of all aspects of the Quran they are mistaken,” </i></b>said Mufti Allahbukhsh Khan. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
<i>“This is outrageous. </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>How can they protest by attacking a school? What do primary school children have to do with the Education Board’s decision to change the syllabus?”</i> said Government Primary School for Girl’s, Chak 16-SG administrator Nazish Waqar.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The clerics warned that if any verses were removed from the curriculum then all religious and political parties would launch a joint campaign against the government.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b style="font-style: italic;">“The government is conspiring against jihad. We will not allow this,” </b>said a statement from <strong> Sunni Ittehad Council </strong>leaders Sahibzada Fazle Karim, Haji Hanif Tayyab, Pir Muhammad Afzal Qadri, Sarwat Ijaz Qadri, Pir Syed Mahfooz Mashhadi, Pir Syed Safdar Shah Gilani and others.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>“The government is trying to appease its foreign masters. Former president Gen (retired) Pervez Musharraf also tried to exclude jihadi verses from the curriculum, but we did not let it happen.”</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Jamatud Dawa leaders including Professor Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, Maulana Ameer Hamza, Hafiz Talha Saeed, Hafiz Abdul Ghafar Ropri and Hafiz Khalid Waleed said that the government was trying to convert Pakistan into a secular state.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Madaris Rabta Committee president and Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI) district president Qazi Kahlilur Rehman said that <b>they would resist any move to turn the country into a secular state.</b><br />
<br />
Will Pakistan progress or will they drag us into the stone age ?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Is it so important to force hatred into innocent minds ?</span></div>Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-46138989951967061782011-07-06T19:13:00.000-07:002011-07-06T19:22:00.208-07:00Blasphemy accused in Karachi seeks security<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhePGlqpuwD1ZLxMDQMwYp6Gvx7cNHukxUN24rTWSuYfeuLOR_hGBqOgXmxcGc_ikjZ7smH2TBJxwxxlUSo8NJr5K43HgDwDRvrZZs2CKU5HEHeOlDmZ3kRAM1czEEyh2IDh3Yki9nNrbMy/s1600/Blasphemy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhePGlqpuwD1ZLxMDQMwYp6Gvx7cNHukxUN24rTWSuYfeuLOR_hGBqOgXmxcGc_ikjZ7smH2TBJxwxxlUSo8NJr5K43HgDwDRvrZZs2CKU5HEHeOlDmZ3kRAM1czEEyh2IDh3Yki9nNrbMy/s400/Blasphemy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="title3" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></div><div class="title3" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal;">The Blasphemy law has been twisted and misused again in a case in Karachi by a religious group.</span></div><div class="title3" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal;">This time the victim is Noel Gulzar, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal;">a Christian youth who said that some religious extremists have threatened to kill him over a fabricated blasphemy allegation. He demanded the government to provide him protection.</span></div><div class="text" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br />
While talking to journalists at the Sindh High Court’s cafeteria Noel informed further saying a few months ago he got a shop at Meccasa Shopping Centre, near Essa Nagri on rent to start his own business of ‘books and stationery’. One day while cleaning his shop's exterior he noticed near the garbage some papers burnt outside the shop.<br />
<br />
On the same day some unidentified people came to his shop and they alleged that ‘he has committed blasphemy because of garbage burning, as it was the Holy Quran and some pages of the Hadith’.<br />
<br />
Noel escaped from the scene and tried to approach the PIB Colony police station to register a complaint of the incident but unfortunately as he reached the the police station the group accusing him was present there, he said.<br />
<br />
Noel said that later he sent a complaint to the SHO PIB Colony through courier service. He also demanded of the Sindh governor, Chief minister, inspector general of police and CCPO Karachi to provide him protection.<br />
<br />
MPA Saleem Khursheed Khokhar, while talking to <a href="http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011%5C07%5C06%5Cstory_6-7-2011_pg12_5"><b>Daily Times</b></a> on the issue, said that Gulzar had come to him. He said: “It is the badness of our society that some opportunists are using the religion for their wasted interests and a common man is facing trouble.”<br />
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Another case of business rivalry ? We hope someone from Karachi can update us further.</div><div class="text" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br />
</div><div class="text" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Source: Daily Times</div></div>Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-49671587569511858162011-07-03T09:35:00.000-07:002011-07-03T12:44:34.340-07:00False FIR in Christian Hospital Taxila<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">The Christian Hospital in Taxila recently avoided communal clash motivated by a person named </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">Nur Mohammad with his sons Malik Riaz and Malik Abdul Razzak by registering fabricated cases among some hospital staff and having many Christian staff arrested also.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">Leaders of the Christian community intervened and proved that the FIR was false, a blasphemy case was also planned but not egistered and did not go further. It is being reported that Pakistan's agencies acted swiftly and controlled the situation<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">The motive is said to be land mafia who along with a contractor had been after this property for quite some time.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">At present the Hospital is closed for security reasons.</span></span></span></div>Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-19177883189418289672011-06-24T02:26:00.000-07:002011-06-24T02:26:58.870-07:00Congregation bids farewell to retired Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj11C8ZF2QRZdwCFDlXQ30YAnlyUOWh-w6MVhgsg4yA9LQX845hwDmy8fxh4cx8VkdLn3wu85OhCOZW1u8hm-wPKDRzN5JcFN8uOCPKr8_tzBfvoyYOYrFJnpytp9_l1wjh6sWdDV_s8UUx/s1600/Archbishop.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj11C8ZF2QRZdwCFDlXQ30YAnlyUOWh-w6MVhgsg4yA9LQX845hwDmy8fxh4cx8VkdLn3wu85OhCOZW1u8hm-wPKDRzN5JcFN8uOCPKr8_tzBfvoyYOYrFJnpytp9_l1wjh6sWdDV_s8UUx/s200/Archbishop.JPG" width="115" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A thanksgiving mass was held for retired Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore which was attended by hundreds of Catholic clergy and laypeople; and all the diocese’s 58 priests at Lahore’s Sacred Heart Cathedral.<br />
Archbishop Saldanha retired on April 7 this year, after heading Lahore archdiocese for almost 10 years. The speakers at the mass paid tribute to the retired prelate who “strongly supported inter-religious harmony and dialogue during a decade of the ‘war on terror’.” They recalled major instances of Christian persecution, all in Punjab province, under his tenure of office, including the assassination of Catholic federal minister for minorities Shahbaz Bhatti on March 2, this year.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Born: </b>Lawrence John Saldanha in Mangalore, India on 12 Jun 1936.<br />
<b>Religious training: </b>Christ the King seminary in Karachi and was ordained a priest in Lahore, Pakistan on 16 Jan 1960.<br />
He also earned a doctorate in systematic theology from Rome-based Pontifical Urbaniana University. He participated in the Second Vatican Council.<br />
<br />
<b>Career:</b><br />
- He served in different parishes in Lahore and was secretary of Caritas Pakistan 1966-73. <br />
- He served 1971-74 as editor of the Catholic Naqib, the Archdiocese’s Urdu bimonthly.<br />
- He was also rector of Christ the King Seminary in Karachi from 1974–1979 and taught dogmatic theology there until 1983.<br />
<br />
- From 1986-98 he was head of the social communications commission and WAVE Studio, the Church's national audiovisual center in Lahore. <br />
- He also headed the UCA News bureau in Pakistan. <br />
- President of the Federation of Asian Bishop’s Conference <br />
- Chairmanship of Radio Veritas.<br />
<br />
- He was serving as associate pastor of Precious Blood Church in Toronto, Canada, when he was recalled to serve the Church in Pakistan.<br />
- On 24 Apr 2001 he was appointed Archbishop of Lahore by Pope John Paul II. <br />
- He is the Leader of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan.<br />
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- On 16 January 2010, Archbishop Saldanha celebrated his Golden Jubilee as a priest, of serving his church for 50 years.<br />
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- On 7 April 2011 Archbishop Saldanha retired as Archbishop of Lahore<br />
</span></div></div>Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-7223790097332917382011-06-07T23:16:00.000-07:002011-06-07T23:45:24.742-07:00Hector Aleem & two others freed from blasphemy case<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3hSd_S9B1bFStvHYRLXuh8AlXaDlVXaO8bortTwdUwcE61mUwpwTtm0drTkeoC75fX5y19zczzqa_Qgy5XO7PM0dTISYIvDF4SeLf5WkR6AEJHqRgxdfqpKr8WuqFTRBvb05DT2vz8DiB/s1600/Hector+Aleem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3hSd_S9B1bFStvHYRLXuh8AlXaDlVXaO8bortTwdUwcE61mUwpwTtm0drTkeoC75fX5y19zczzqa_Qgy5XO7PM0dTISYIvDF4SeLf5WkR6AEJHqRgxdfqpKr8WuqFTRBvb05DT2vz8DiB/s200/Hector+Aleem.jpg" width="158" /></a></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">According to a report by The Express <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/181398/court-orders-three-acquitted-in-blasphemy-case/">Tribune</a>, 3 Christians were acquitted in a blasphemy case last Thursday and this news has been confirmed by Hector's <a href="http://www.hectoraleem.blogspot.com/">blog</a> which is managed by his daughter Mehvish.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> A Rawalpindi court acquitted three members of the Christian community as the prosecutor failed to prove the case against them. An Additional District and Sessions Judge Sarfraz Akhtar absolved Hector Haleem, Basharat Maseeh and Robin Maseeh from the charges of sending blasphemous text messages. <br />
<br />
A Ghufran Sialvi had registered the case against him last year.<br />
The court also ordered criminal action against the investigation officer and the complainant after they could not prove the charges against the accused.<br />
Aleem's daughter Mehvish posted online <a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/HAleem/">petitions</a> and posts asking for support of her father's release. The 55 years old Aleem heads an NGO called <a href="http://www.pww.org.pk/about.html">Peace Worldwide</a>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; line-height: 15px;">Peace award by the Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr. Yousaf Raza Gillani </span><br />
Details of his accusation are posted <a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/HAleem/">here</a>, an account of the incident by his daughter.<br />
<br />
Below is a Urdu newspapers article taken from Aleem's blog that is translated by Mewish.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpFEM0tskU_IoECne9lRxJAEhmr-EHOJ8Yxt2EVABbu84BG10YiFqYWVJCCdLeJCtg8ViA03CtJ_1YO52A_KZvnyoKtK-p8Rup9z8sGKuUTLumWEycMwyepriF6pIt4KKE3Wqiz5EpFEgC/s1600/1101256048-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpFEM0tskU_IoECne9lRxJAEhmr-EHOJ8Yxt2EVABbu84BG10YiFqYWVJCCdLeJCtg8ViA03CtJ_1YO52A_KZvnyoKtK-p8Rup9z8sGKuUTLumWEycMwyepriF6pIt4KKE3Wqiz5EpFEgC/s400/1101256048-1.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;">Here is the TRANSLATION:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"> "Additional District and Session Judge Mr. Sarfaraz Akhter took a strict notice on those who lodged a false blasphemy case. He ordered the CPO Rawalpinidi to investigate about the case and also ordered to take a strict action against those who gave false testimonies i.e. Sub - Inspector Zafar Iqbal, Mir Abdullah, Riaz, Constable Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Akram, and the complainant Tahir Iqbal Chisti. He ordered to take severe action on them and also ordered strictly to the Secretary Prosecution Punjab to take action on District Public Prosecution who passed the Challan of this false and poor investigation case. The lawyer of the accused Hector Aleem and others Mr. Ghufran Khurshid Imtiazi provided the Court Orders to the CPO to take action. A case of Disrespecting the accused will also be lodged. Court dropped the Charges on three of the Accused."</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><i> Now here its written that a case of disrespecting the accused will be lodged against the complainants but we wont do it.......because we want to get rid of this court procedure as soon as possible and we wont be going to any court to lodge any case on anyone.</i></span></span></div>Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-58070647842600602122011-06-07T21:39:00.000-07:002011-06-07T21:41:45.159-07:00GOJRA burnt again<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-sgnIL3JAODMjMR71NPpZwH3_ykxxIrjRM9womB8I6S7v5xXVtPnvwPIUEsMP7dGt9JgVYsWHbess-7q3B79dQSX0OYwNIMjHOIKKBiYb3eMnUGqBYzxrbOcUt0GR7SycwNvH83pwot_O/s1600/Musilm+Attack+on+Christian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-sgnIL3JAODMjMR71NPpZwH3_ykxxIrjRM9womB8I6S7v5xXVtPnvwPIUEsMP7dGt9JgVYsWHbess-7q3B79dQSX0OYwNIMjHOIKKBiYb3eMnUGqBYzxrbOcUt0GR7SycwNvH83pwot_O/s400/Musilm+Attack+on+Christian.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Images of black smoke are still fresh in our minds, the grief for our Christian brothers and sisters who died in Gojra is still painful to even imagine; the horrendous murder of chilldren and women is unforgotten. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Christians have been waiting impatiently to seek justice for one of the most barbaric acts against minorities in Pakistan; but once again Pakistan's legal system has failed with the release of 70 suspects.<br />
A special Anti-Terrorism court in Faisalabad <b>released on bail all 70 suspects</b> arrested responsible for the brutal attack in Gojra citing the reason as absence of five witnesses who are not in the country, who may have fled due to threats of extremists, which clearly reflects the security provided by law enforcement agencies to witnesses. During the inquiry, 185 witnesses gave their written statements, however it is being reported five witnesses had already left the country. A case under section-7 of the Anti Terrorism Act was registered against the suspects, but none of the accused were convicted.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The black day mourned by Christians in Pakistan is July 31 2009 when Christian Colony including the area called Korian, was set ablaze resulting in the deaths of eight Christians when 60 houses were also set on fire. The attacks were insitigated by a false complaint received by a mosque that a Christian had committed blasphemy at a wedding ceremony in a nearby village. As tensions escalated over the accusation, a mob was gathered in Gojra by local clerics who used speakers of mosques to attack Christians with assistance of a banned extermist group.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">All roads leading to the neighbourhood were blocked, Police, ambulances and fire-brigades were not allowed to enter in order to save the victims and a chemical was thrown on all houses that would not extinguish flames with water and caused immense damage by rapidly burning. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">More than 100 houses were looted consisting of cattle, bikes, electronics and valuables; during this attack and upto 2 Churches were ransacked desecrating religious books.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For almost 2 years newspapers have reported arrests and inquiries resulting in nothing but disappointment and a mockery of Pakistan's Justice system. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It seems as if they've burnt Gojra again.</span><br />
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</div>Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-39867704528725555992011-06-07T19:09:00.000-07:002011-06-07T19:11:36.572-07:00Sherry Rehman highlights discrimination, inequality & violence against minorities<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-j-Y-YfnGqLApFJ98Z8T4wIA5-zUyi2QhcEWo_N9jpqKMMBmAFCCObRdZixNDc20GQN2nGhYR_xROeqqYZHWZ2bgZc7FFwWPvV8dGb8a_dTKYgqd7cz4lEZRKZTdViArq3ePr1RrsGSDt/s1600/JI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-j-Y-YfnGqLApFJ98Z8T4wIA5-zUyi2QhcEWo_N9jpqKMMBmAFCCObRdZixNDc20GQN2nGhYR_xROeqqYZHWZ2bgZc7FFwWPvV8dGb8a_dTKYgqd7cz4lEZRKZTdViArq3ePr1RrsGSDt/s200/JI.jpg" width="179" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.jinnah-institute.org/">Jinnah Institute</a> has published a 70-page report called <a href="http://www.jinnah-institute.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=303&Itemid=121">'A Question of Faith'</a>, which was released by<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"> the Asian Human Rights Commission.<br />
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<b>Jinnah Institute</b> is a think-tank headed by the former information minister and a parliamentarian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shehrbano_Rehman"><b>Sherry Rehman</b>,</a> she emphasized the need to reinstate the model of inclusive citizenship envisioned by Mohammed Ali Jinnah.<br />
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The report <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">compiled over the period December 2010 – April 2011 documents the deterioration in the political, social and economic status of members of religious minorities in Pakistan, particularly the rising tide of vigilante violence against them and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">criticizes President Zardari's government for backing off from repealing, or even discussing, the country's controversial blasphemy law.<br />
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<div style="clear: left; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxar93tdiUYdCDvrMWOzeuN6eo00TwUzIcn9-dNVGZR-JLSQXrteMpdhSSyuwiHjzomUCMN7ECeeo-odFBSD0nsC3J9wyQvFNFSmDEbuvYou9krwJULMDEhzZ5dpDi7s6GbUpY72kqHJFN/s1600/sherry-rehman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxar93tdiUYdCDvrMWOzeuN6eo00TwUzIcn9-dNVGZR-JLSQXrteMpdhSSyuwiHjzomUCMN7ECeeo-odFBSD0nsC3J9wyQvFNFSmDEbuvYou9krwJULMDEhzZ5dpDi7s6GbUpY72kqHJFN/s200/sherry-rehman.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The report highlights that violence and extremism is threatening Christians, Hindus and Ahmedis, and growing incidents of mob violence against minority groups providing examples of abductions and forced conversions of minority women.</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">The report warned extremists posed a serious threat to Pakistan's stability.</span></span><br />
<div style="clear: left; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>The report calls for repealing the country's controversial blasphemy law </b>and urges the government to urgently undertake political and judicial reforms to ensure equality for Muslims and non-Muslim citizens of Pakistan.</span></div><div style="clear: left; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The institute has listed 23 recommendations, including the removal of impunity for prayer leaders in mosques, police and judicial reforms and clarification of the status of Federal Shariat Court and the Council of Islamic Ideology. It also calls for an appointment of a “Special Ombudsman” to protect the rights of women and minorities.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The research team of the Jinnah Institute interviewed 125 people including minority representatives, victims and non-governmental organisations’ workers all over Pakistan between December 2010 and April 2011. </span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: inherit;">Interviews with Christians of different age groups and professions revealed that many of them felt they “are treated as second-class citizens and discriminated against in all aspects of life.” Moreover, most of those who can, do move away from Pakistan. Those who choose to stay back do so because of a </span><b>strong sense of commitment to the country and being ‘Pakistani </b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: 18px;">even though they are persecuted on the basis of their religion.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Christians in rural areas have to deal with instances of their land being grabbed by local Muslim residents and in some of the more serious incidents, the Christian residents are then unable to return to their homes.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Eighty per cent of the Hindus in Pakistan live in Sindh, and “are victims of caste and wider religious discrimination,” said the report. They do not own lands and work on daily wages, a consequence of them not having any permanent settlement. The report said, “One day, they are with one landlord, the next day with another. And this is how they spend a life of debt, with no accountability or education.”</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Their castes have translated into daily life. For instance, Hindus from a lower caste might be restricted to a separate water well in a school, “from which even the Muslims will not drink”.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Higher caste Hindus have their own set of problems to contend with. They live in a state of insecurity and are frequently kidnapped for ransom. For instance, 82-year-old Lakki Chand Garji, a prominent Hindu spiritual leader, was kidnapped on December 21, 2010 and his whereabouts are unknown to date.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Then there’s the matter of Hindus being suspected of having sympathy for India. Some Hindus said that “they dealt with the repercussions of the destruction of the Babri Masjid across the border in India in 1992.”</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1GGiUYo-GuKppKYLrdzXjCVSJ9lo0NnB1O_k0PVcGrRhaVPbbeLewiU35Q2eMBcGySwd-YaWM2gvy-PP1BMvipRMfACABbZoXbJYKxF91R_IJHbZImfWwpY0-vSuM2XhT-dK4RH-iUa4w/s1600/quaid00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1GGiUYo-GuKppKYLrdzXjCVSJ9lo0NnB1O_k0PVcGrRhaVPbbeLewiU35Q2eMBcGySwd-YaWM2gvy-PP1BMvipRMfACABbZoXbJYKxF91R_IJHbZImfWwpY0-vSuM2XhT-dK4RH-iUa4w/s1600/quaid00.jpg" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Violence against the Ahmaddiya community has also been on the rise in the past three years, it was reported.<br />
The report attributed the increase in violence to maulvis “promoting such attacks and inciting violence in their sermons and in the media.”<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> </span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">We are starting in the days where there is<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> no discrimination</span>, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">equal citizens</span> of one State.- </span></strong></em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">Mohammad Ali Jinnah, August 11, 1947 – Address to Pakistan's first Constituent Assembly</span></span></strong></em></span></span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><b><i><br />
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</div>Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-86595450760000841702011-06-07T06:19:00.000-07:002011-06-07T07:22:50.283-07:00PML-N's members object to a Christian presenting the provincial budget<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Minorities have been questioning their 'Equality' as citizens of Pakistan, their constitutional rights laid by the founder of Pakistan; Mohammed Ali Jinnah.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Last week, several provincial legislators of the <b>Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz</b> (PML-N) objected to Punjab cabinet member <b>Kamran Michael</b> presenting the budget for the reason that he is a Christian.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">PML-N's party members are reported to have <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/183896/in-punjab-a-christian-cant-present-the-provincial-budget/">objected </a>to a Christian being given such a prominent position as that of delivering the annual budget speech and fear losing votes amongst some of their conservative, right-wing vote bank. The PML-N is already afraid of losing ground in its heartland of Punjab to other parties that have been making inroads in the province in recent months.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Michael had been given charge of the finance ministry in March, after the PML-N kicked out the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) from Punjab’s ruling coalition. He replaced the PPP’s Tanveer Ashraf Kaira, in addition to retaining his earlier portfolio of <b>Human rights and minorities affairs.</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In a country where discrimination towards Christians is common, atrocities and crimes towards minorities fall to deaf ears; it comes as no shock to many Christians on hearing the opposition of law makers in Punjab.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">However, while Michael was minister in theory, in practise the position has been managed by Sardar Zulfiqar Khan Khosa, senior adviser to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. Khosa attended all meetings related to the budget and was the de facto head of the ministry, despite the fact that Punjab government rules prohibit an adviser from heading any departmental business, even those at a department to which he or she has been assigned.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It is being said that Michael was forbidden from even contacting the finance secretary or the chairman of the planning and development department.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Michael holds the finance ministry as an “additional portfolio”, which means that he is authorised to present the budget. However, he has not been assigned the ministry itself. Rule 136 of the Punjab Assembly Rules of Procedure requires the provincial budget to be presented by the finance minister or another minister who has been assigned his portfolio.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">According to the rules of the Punjab Assembly, the residual powers of any unfilled portfolios in the provincial cabinet are transferred to the chief minister until a new minister is appointed. <b>Shahbaz currently holds 20 portfolios himself, having failed to appoint cabinet ministers after kicking out the PPP from the ruling coalition.</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sources said that PML-N members have suggested that the “additional portfolio” for the finance ministry be given to Education and Excise Minister Mujtaba Shuja Rehman in order to avoid Michael presenting the budget. A final decision is expected to be taken at a party meeting on Tuesday (07 June 2011).</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Since the chief minister technically occupies the powers of finance minister, he could present the budget himself, without having to assign the portfolio to any other cabinet member.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It is likely that Mujtaba Shuja Rehman is to present the Punjab budget for fiscal year 2012.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div></div></div>Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-81130836937321668302011-06-04T16:35:00.000-07:002011-06-05T01:13:06.669-07:00Armed Muslims damage altar, and desecrate Bible in Presbyterian Church<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', times-roman, serif; line-height: 18px;"></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLSvcDwF1J-k4GVGhiEJ_-kde-d7Bx08lcDwultU4oavK_Uk_zfLQxB-MInlTJttm1ycdTJotB1HMSDN9CoKQ9JIKLJV0GMzHFEzhTwENjBQH89NgZazU2z1FfUW3LRUyaL7-hGRrqSV95/s1600/Bible-descrated.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLSvcDwF1J-k4GVGhiEJ_-kde-d7Bx08lcDwultU4oavK_Uk_zfLQxB-MInlTJttm1ycdTJotB1HMSDN9CoKQ9JIKLJV0GMzHFEzhTwENjBQH89NgZazU2z1FfUW3LRUyaL7-hGRrqSV95/s200/Bible-descrated.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><strong class="location" style="color: #555555; display: block; float: left; font-style: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-style: inherit;"><span style="color: #555555;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #555555;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong class="location" style="color: #555555; display: block; float: left; font-style: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-style: inherit;"><span style="color: #555555;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #555555;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><br />
<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong class="location" style="color: #555555; display: block; float: left; font-style: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-style: inherit;"><span style="color: #555555;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #555555;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: #555555;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Muhammad Shoaib (alias Mota), entered a church accompanied with 3 armed men named Iqbal Kumhar, Ashiq Machhi and another man, <b>all of them were drunk</b>; they began shouting at the congregation demanding they to turn off their Church's loudspeakers and pushing down the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dais">dais</a>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong></div><div><strong class="location" style="color: #555555; display: block; float: left; font-style: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-style: inherit;"><span style="color: #555555;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #555555;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><strong class="location" style="color: #555555; display: inline !important; font-style: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-style: inherit;"><span style="color: #555555;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #555555;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;">The miscreant;<b> </b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #555555;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><b>Muhammad Shoaib</b> is </span></span><span style="color: #555555;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #555555;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;">the nephew of former<b> <a href="http://pap.gov.pk/uploads/previous_members/1997-2001/dist18.htm#pp133">MPA Mansha Sindhu</a></b>, </span></span></span></span><span style="color: #555555;">PML-Q provincial lawmaker, Shoaib forcibly entered </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-style: inherit; line-height: 20px;"><b>Numseoul Presbyterian Church</b> in Lakhoki Kahna village (Lahore)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-style: inherit;"><span style="color: #555555;"> with a</span><b> 44-bore gun and a 30-bore pistol</b> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555;">disrupting the Sunday mass, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-style: inherit;">manhandling Church members </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: inherit;"> and throwing the Bible towards the wall </span>desecrating<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: inherit;"> the Cross and damaging the altar.</span></span></span></span></strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;">Police were reluctant to register an FIR and the SP of the local police station Malik Awais </span><a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/178611/disrupting-church-service-ex-lawmakers-nephew-accused-of-defiling-bible/" style="color: #222222;">denied</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"> Shoaib carried weapons and that he was <b>heavily intoxicated</b> on the day of the incident; </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">adding that no Bible was desecrated and stating </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">that loudspeakers were “not even allowed in mosques,” h</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">e said the Christians were making false allegations and exaggerating the incident.</span></div></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><b>Pastor Ashraf Masih</b> said that their Church was using loudspeakers only inside the church building. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"> The Church was established in the village by a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">South Korean ministry in 2004.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><br />
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This is not Shoaib's first incident, he has earlier manhandled a <a href="http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/pakistan/article_113212.html">70 year old elder of the Church</a> asking them to stop singing hymns.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://elections.com.pk/candidatedetails.php?id=6879">Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif </a>was present in the area that day to inaugurate a housing scheme, this add pressure on the police to keep the Christians from blocking the road in protest.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Pastor Masih said that after an hour-long negotiation with Christian representatives, Sindhu agreed to have Shoaib publicly apologize, but that the police’s hostile attitude toward the Christians was evident in open support of Sindhu and his men.</span><br />
<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: inherit; line-height: 20px;">Pakistan's widely </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">criticized</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: inherit; line-height: 20px;"> blasphemy law does not protect or apply to other religions except Islam when </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Holy books like Bibles or other scriptures</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: inherit; line-height: 20px;"> are </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">desecrated.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: inherit; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span></div></div>Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177236277564355700.post-57722208032692911672011-06-01T07:09:00.000-07:002011-06-01T07:20:48.401-07:00Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam calls for ban on Holy Bible<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf0XpPnzO577tzjmuT1pzq0EdeWF6Iey7QGwKLCbeg4eVMUZLb4twMVs1Pza5-dDUBlQWq4ottQzjKkvA0TlRP8NW2GNcptJ4ZpMNEpz_vBNMNoCBokEOJTvzxRrn_dGwloo7_hyphenhyphenu5-YGv/s1600/Ban-Bible.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf0XpPnzO577tzjmuT1pzq0EdeWF6Iey7QGwKLCbeg4eVMUZLb4twMVs1Pza5-dDUBlQWq4ottQzjKkvA0TlRP8NW2GNcptJ4ZpMNEpz_vBNMNoCBokEOJTvzxRrn_dGwloo7_hyphenhyphenu5-YGv/s200/Ban-Bible.jpg" width="181" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;">A press conference was organized by<b> Jamiat-Ulema-e- Islam (<a href="http://www.senate.gov.pk/ShowMemberDetail.asp?MemberCode=429&CatCode=0&CatName=">Samiul Haq</a>) </b>in Masjid-e-Khizra, demanding the Bible to be <a href="http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=50016&Cat=2&dt=5/31/2011">banned</a>.</span></span><br />
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</span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5A6U50bGPHjgcar9Ou5DbMmqsEWDHjiLTRFSLXbzqU_oDGsz76Ydke6aK9kTjZ2pg0wOVdYhiqpLAuA_JnQ3eWRCvzet76QJld3jNDPgmf4d0kdb7RDkfcNWRhqUgQvAIPMFudTN6xiQ7/s1600/Malik.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5A6U50bGPHjgcar9Ou5DbMmqsEWDHjiLTRFSLXbzqU_oDGsz76Ydke6aK9kTjZ2pg0wOVdYhiqpLAuA_JnQ3eWRCvzet76QJld3jNDPgmf4d0kdb7RDkfcNWRhqUgQvAIPMFudTN6xiQ7/s200/Malik.jpg" width="137" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.dol.com.pk/Bishop%20of%20lahore.htm">Dr. Alexander John Malik</a>, Bishop of Lahore</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, condemned to the demand to ban the Bible. Bishop Malik , said agreeing to such a demand would be interfering in the religious matters of the Christian religion and violation of religious freedom fully guaranteed by the constitution.</span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;">The Bishop further stated that the demand would sow seeds of discord among different. The bishop also said that the Christians all over the world including the global heads of the Churches i.e. the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury, condemned the heinous act of burning the Holy Quran by a maniac in the US. (<a href="http://www.google.ae/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDYQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTerry_Jones&ei=P0rmTankA4HtrAffpOGJCA&usg=AFQjCNHS7P3XGzAqhp--AHGR9klEsjgxRA">Pastor Terry Jones</a>)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;">John Bhatti, a Pakistani Christian residing in Kuwait asked "<i>What if Muslims were put in a same situation ? Christians in Pakistan have great respect for Islam and it's Holy book but why not vice versa ?"</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"></div><div style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;"><b>Maulana Abdul Rauf Farooqi </b>and others <a href="http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=50016&Cat=2&dt=5/31/2011">appealed</a> to the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of the “blasphemous” materials in the Bible otherwise they would move the court for banning the book, for which a team of lawyers was already working. </span></span></div><div style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;">Farooqi said his team wanted to pay the blasphemers in the same coin but they would not follow in the footsteps of Terry Jones, and would not burn the holy book. However, they added, they would devise some other mode of punishment to pre-empt future desecrations. </span></span></div><div style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></div><div style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;">Farooqi cited a number of scriptures from the Bible, saying such “insertions” strongly offend the Muslims, who hold all prophets and holy books in high esteem, as part of religious belief and never even think of committing any blasphemy against them. He rejected the possibility of a clash between the two religions, saying that as long as the courts are functioning according to the law, there were no chances of any clash between the two religions. </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;">Muslims refer to the Christian Bible as the<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_(Islam)"> 'Injeel" </a>claiming parts of the Bible were added later and the original contents has been changed.</span></span></div><div style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">JUI is working continuously to convert the law of country according to their terminology of Islam and implementation of the Shari'ah law in Pakistan.<br />
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<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;">The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI) is a political party in Pakistan. It formed a combined government in national elections in 2002 and 2008. The party has split into two separate parties: one is led by Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman and is known as "Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (<a href="http://elections.com.pk/candidatedetails.php?id=2509">Fazlur Rehman</a>)", or "JUI-F", while the other is led by <a href="http://www.senate.gov.pk/ShowMemberDetail.asp?MemberCode=429&CatCode=0&CatName=">Maulana Sami ul Haq</a> and is known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JUI-S">"Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Sami ul Haq)" or "JUI-S"</a>.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;"><b><a href="http://www.jamestown.org/programs/gta/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=4180&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=26&cHash=2feb32fe98">Maulana Sami ul Haq</a> </b>is a religious leader and a politician. He is known for his close ties to the Taliban and has been referred to as the<b> "Father of the Taliban"</b>. He has also served as a member of the Senate of Pakistan.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;">Sami ul Haq is the chancellor of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darul_Uloom_Haqqania">Darul Uloom Haqqania</a>, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deobandi">Deobandi </a>Islamic seminary which is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alma_mater">alma mater</a> of several Taliban leaders, termed the "University of Jihad"</span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px;"><br />
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</div>Pakistani Christian [Suhail]http://www.blogger.com/profile/12839230720233826383noreply@blogger.com0