Christian Mother of Five in Pakistan Alleges Rape

LAHORE, Pakistan, September 21  — 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.

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 23-year-old Bhallu and 27-year-old Shera, along with an unidentified accomplice, allegedly abducted her at gunpoint, took her to an abandoned house in the area and raped her, she said.

Working late, she had reached the Mustafabad bus stop 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.
“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.”

Once inside, she said, they took off her gag, and she pleaded with them to leave her alone.

“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.”

She said that her tormentors let her go after more than an hour.

“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.”

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.

“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.”

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.

“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.”

She said that after that incident, her husband, who works as a sweeper, began accompanying her to and from the bus stop.

“But there were days when he could not accompany me to the bus stop, and I used to walk alone,” she said.

Her husband, Mushtaq Masih, said that he was speechless after she told him about the ordeal.

“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.”

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.

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.

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.

His wife said that as they reached the police station, Muslims warned the family against pointing out Shera.

“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 chooras [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.”

She refused to identify Shera and returned home, she said.

“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.”

Pressure to Drop ChargesArea 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.

“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.”

Police are using delay tactics in the pursuit of Bhallu, Masih said.

“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.

“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.”

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.

Sharif told Compass that police were trying to arrest Bhallu.

“We took his father into custody but released him after interrogation,” he said. “I will soon catch hold of Bhallu.”

Sharif said the investigation would accelerate after the primary suspect is arrested.

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.

“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.”

Area resident Arif Masih told Compass that the Christians’ fears were understandable.

“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?”
 

Many of Pakistan’s Christian Flood Victims Still Homeless

LAHORE-  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.

Hameed Masih, 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.

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.

“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.”

Aid distribution was also initially unfair, he said.

“There were some problems in the beginning, but then minority members protested and the issue was resolved,” he said.

Masih added that Christian families in his village are receiving monthly stipends from the government.

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.

“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.”

Areas where plots have been allotted include Gurmani Sharki, Jandeer Dueaja, Chak 568 and Chowk Sarwar Shaheed. There are some 8,500 registered minority voters, mostly Christians and Hindus, in these areas, with the total minority population said to be around 18,000.

“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.

He added that one person who owns 22 acres of agricultural land has been allotted more land under the government rehabilitation plan.

Napoleon Qayyum, 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.

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.

Chaudhry Ehsanul Haq Nolatia, a local Member of the Provincial Assembly from Kot Addu, said a committee was formed to look into the allotment.

“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.

He added that he would take up the issue in the Punjab Assembly.

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.

Muslim Men Kidnap Pakistani Christian Girl to 'Purify Her'

Four Muslim abductors in Saleem Colony, within the jurisdictions of Shisharwali Police Station Satellite Town, Gujranwala City 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.

AsiaNews reports that the girl was taken by the main Muslim man so he could “purify her” to make her “Muslim and my mistress.”

ANS was apprised of this crime by Rashid Masih, a Christian laborer and father of six, including Mehek, who all live in a rented house.

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.

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 Mehek, and then forced her to climb aboard a white car.

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.

On hearing the news, workers from the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), led by Khalid Gill, went to the local Police station, where, they said, police "reluctantly" registered the case against the perpetrators.

On the instructions of the Station House Officer, a sub-inspector was deputed to probe into the issue.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

Source

Blasphemy accused Aslam Masih dies in jail

A Christian man accused of blasphemy in Pakistan died of tropical fever in prison on Sept. 9, after the prison authorities refused him treatment, The Christian Post has learned Tuesday.

Aslam Masih died reportedly of the dengue virus, an infectious tropical disease.

Jonathan Racho, the Regional Manager for South Asia at the International Christian Concern (ICC), an advocacy group, told The Christian Post that a local human rights organization had appealed to the prison authorities to provide Masih with proper medical treatment, but the authorities refused, quoting security reasons.

“We’ve received the information last week, but we needed to confirm it with our local contact,” Racho told The Christian Post.

“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.

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.

 For offending the Quran, the punishment is a lifetime prison sentence.

Masih was reportedly arrested in 2010 after having been accused of blasphemy by two members of the Tablighi Jammat, an Islamic group.

“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.”

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.

The incident added to a row of deaths and arrests related to the persecution of Christians in Pakistan in the past years.

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.

The man, Qamar David, had been accused of blasphemy by his business partner.

One of the most famous cases of the persecution of Christians in Pakistan is the case of Asia Bibi, the first woman in that country to be sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy.

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.

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.

800 Christians left homeless

Lahore-  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.

The slum area situated beside Ferozepur Road, was  given only a day’s notice to vacate their homes. 

“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. 
“We let them destroy our homes but they will have to demolished

We let them destroy our homes but they will have to demolish the church over our dead bodies,” Rani, a resident, told Pakistan Today. “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. 
Police officials present on the scene said 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.”

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.” 

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.
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.
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.
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.

Akram Masih Gill demands scholarship funds for minorities to be increased

State for Interfaith Harmony and Minorities Affairs Minister Akram Masih Gill said scholarship funds for children of the minorities will be increased from Rs 16 million to Rs 20 million.
Minister of State for Interfaith and Harmony Akram Masih Gill, who also belongs to the PML-Q, has been given full charge of the ministry. was named “Minister of the State” (a sort of “Deputy Minister”).
Speaking to a delegation of parliamentarian’s representing the minorities, he added, development funds would be distributed among the minorities legislators on equal basis, which would help them undertake development work in their respective areas. Gill said development funds for the welfare of the minorities would also be increased in the upcoming budget 2011-12.

The minister informed the delegation that the interfaith harmony ministry would arrange ulema conferences, seminars and walks to bridge the gap among the followers of different religions. Interfaith committees would also be set up at the district level, he said. Gill also informed that the UN would be approached for the establishment of a commission for the well being of minorities across the world. The minister said that the ministry was well aware of the problems being faced by the minorities and it would take concrete steps to resolve all these problems.

Interestingly, last year Akram Masih Gill made the government speechless as he posed a question in the National Assembly on Friday if alcohol was illegal, how the earning from taxes on it could be legal.

“The amount collected through excise duty on the sale of alcohol should be spent on the minorities,” he said in his budget speech. Akram Masih Gill expressed his dismay over the meagre amount of Rs150 million earmarked for the Minorities Welfare Funds in the budget and staged a walkout from the House.