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).
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 Adeel Kashif, a Christian carpenter who was
living on a government-owned piece of land.
“The attackers forced their way into Kashif’s house and started
throwing the family’s belongings onto the street,” Wazir Masih, a
Christian elder in the area. “They also tore the clothes
off Kashif’s three female family members – Violet, 40, Parveen, 35, and
Esther, 17, and tortured the family.”
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).
“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,” Masih said. “This allotment is
made with the complete consensus of the villagers.”
Before Kashif, a Muslim carpenter named Muhammad Iqbal was allowed to live on the property, he said.
“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.
He said that on Wednesday (Oct. 5), armed Muslims led by men of the
area’s powerful Jagrane family arrived at the house and tried to force
the Christians out.
“Kashif’s neighbors and some other villagers came out of their homes
on hearing the commotion,” Masih said. “The village comprises about 250
Christian families, 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.”
Masih said the Muslims suddenly opened indiscriminate fire on the
Christians, instantly killing 25-year-old Sajid Bashir Masih 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.
“The Christians had done nothing to provoke the Muslims into
employing such brute force,” Wazir Masih said. “They just opened fire on
the defenseless people with their automatic rifles and shotguns.”
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.
Police besieged the house and eventually managed to arrest 16 armed assailants, but the primary suspects remain free.
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).
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.
A.D. Sahil, a Christian schoolteacher of the area said the Christians suspected police complicity in the incident.
“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,” 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.”
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.
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.