Pakistan blasphemy case girl examined by doctors

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Doctors in Pakistan have examined a young Christian girl imprisoned on blasphemy charges to determine her age and mental capacity, with the results due to be presented in court tomorrow.

According to the BBC, her lawyer says the girl, called Rimsha, is 11 or 12 years old and appears to have Down’s syndrome.

“She is being held in a maximum security prison after an angry mob accused her of desecrating pages of the Koran. But her supporters say she has been wrongly accused,” said the BBC.

“Police say the girl was arrested last week in a Christian area of the capital Islamabad, after a crowd of people demanded that she be punished for allegedly desecrating pages of the Muslim holy book.

“It is not clear whether she burned pages of the Koran or was found to be carrying them in her bag.

Attack fears

The doctors' report will be presented at a bail hearing in Islamabad on Tuesday.

Christian leaders say she is as young as 11 but police quoted in some media reports say she may be older and that she had no mental impairments.

Pakistan's Minister for National Harmony, Paul Bhatti, has said she is innocent and should be released.

He told the BBC earlier: “The police were initially reluctant to arrest her, but they came under a lot of pressure from a very large crowd who were threatening to burn down Christian homes.”

According to the BBC's Orla Guerin in Islamabad, Rimsha’s lawyer said that when he saw her in jail over the weekend she wept and begged to be released.

Her parents have been taken into protective custody following threats, and many other Christian families are reported to have fled the neighborhood.

“There are fears that even if she is released, Rimsha’s family will not be safe in Pakistan. 

Others accused of blasphemy have been killed by vigilante mobs in the recent past,” concluded the BBC story.

A Pakistani Christian leader had told the believers of his country, ‘We need to come out of our self-pity and minority syndrome’

By Rodrick Samson 
Special to ASSIST News Service

RAWALPINDI, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- A Pakistani Christian leader, has told believers of his country that there is a lack of unity in the Christian community, and stressed the importance of education.

Christians protesting in Pakistani led by Joseph Francis from CLAAS

Speaking at a special event in Rawalpindi, Pakistan last Thursday (January 26, 2012), Zeeshan Joseph of the All Pakistan Christian League (APCL), a political party, went on to say, “We need think tanks. We have to make our weakness [into] our strength. We need to come out of our self-pity and minority syndrome.”

Joseph was one of many speakers at a six-hour seminar on the “Challenges faced by the Christians in Pakistan and their solutions.... How religious freedom and human rights can be ensured in the present scenario of Pakistan,” a well-attended event organized by overseas Christian Pakistanis and held in a local hotel.

Christian political parties, clergy and human rights activists all participated in the event.

Pervaiz Rafique, a Member of the Provincial Assembly, spoke about the lack of “political and spiritual leadership” in Pakistan telling those there, “We have to stop looking at others and instead do something ourselves. The spiritual leaders should make our Christian community spiritually strong, rather than trying to participate in political activities. We need to unite on our national issues, when was the last time a 100,000 Christians gathered to raise their voice?”

Mumtaz Qadri after his arrest

He then raised the case of Mumtaz Qadri, who on January 4, 2011, assassinated Salmaan Taseer, the 26th Governor of the Province of Punjab, after disagreeing with Taseer's opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy law and his support of Asia Bibi, a mother-of-five who had been sentenced to death for alleged apostasy.

One of Taseer's bodyguards, Qadri shot him 27 times with an MP5 sub-machine gun at Kohsar Market, near his home]in Sector F6 of Islamabad, as he was returning to his car after meeting a friend for lunch

“Qadri is supported by over 2000 lawyers who are willing to fight the case for free, and thousands have shown their solidarity with him. It is a shame that no Christian lawyer is willing to fight for the Christians for free, [and that] no Christian lawyer is even willing to take the initiative for the community,” said Rafique.

The church being demolished

Another speaker, Bishop Ijaz Inayat Masih of Karachi, who is said to be the only Bishop of the Church of Pakistan who is openly campaigning against sales of church properties in Pakistan, said, “The Church Property Ordinance 2002 needs to be amended as it is not being implemented and Church properties are being sold unchecked. Recently the church at Gosh-e-Aman in Lahore was demolished [and desecrated) with claims that it was sold to… [a Trust). We need to make laws that would ensure the protection of the Church Properties.”

Father Anwar Patras from the Catholic Diocese of Rawalpindi said, “It is nice to see that we have the major political parties, the clergy from the Catholic, the Anglican Church and the Presbyterian Church under one roof. We all share the same faith, such seminars must be encouraged. I feel that this initiative should have been taken by the Catholic Church. We support an amendment in the Church Property Ordinance and it should be implemented.”

Joseph Francis from CLAAS (Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement) then said, “Pakistan was founded by the decisive vote by S.P. Singha, a Christian. That letter is still available at the national library Lahore. The minorities have been facing constitutional discrimination, they are not been given the rights they deserved. The Government talks about religious freedom and rights, they make minority parliamentarians but in reality the minorities are titled as rubber stamps and have no say in their parties.”

Professor Salamat Akhtar added, “Rawalpindi is a city of the martyrs. In 1971 the Christians of Rawalpindi fought for their lives and gave their lives for the cause. The Christians should demand dual vote for themselves, the Muslims in the subcontinent were given the right of dual vote in 1910, 1941 and 1946 as they were a minority. Now why can’t the Muslims give us the right of the dual vote. We need to focus on education and get our children in the public services so that that can be in position for policy making one day and be able to make a difference.”

Albert David, an activist from the British High Commission said, “We all agree on Jesus Christ, and so we need get united. I do agree about the idea of sending our children in public services that is where the policies are made. I wouldn’t encourage going after the political parties, instead do something about the policy making.”

Cornelius Mohsin from the Pakistani Christian Alliance USA said, “Today’s event was made possible by the overseas Pakistani Christians who are away from their homeland, but love their country and want to do something for the Christians in Pakistan. One of the major challenges we face is that we don’t even know our exact population. Some say its 1.5% , 3% or 5 %... do we have anything documented? Have we ever stressed on having a census?

“As far as I know, there are around 17-20 Christian populations where the Muslim politicians win on the Christian votes. Why don`t we demand election on a general seat for our candidates instead of getting them selected. If we have 17-20 strong candidates we will be able to have a voice in the parliament. If MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a liberal-secular political party of Pakistan] can make a government with 17 seats, then why can’t the Christians become strong by having seats in the parliament?”

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Rodrick Samson is a freelance journalist based in Pakistan.

Christian Charged with ‘Blasphemy’ after Argument

Young man says landlord falsely accused him after dispute over rent.

By Murad Khan

 

LAHORE, Pakistan, December 26 (Compass Direct News) – A young man has been charged with desecrating the Quran under Pakistan’s controversial “blasphemy” laws after the Christian had an argument over rent with his Muslim landlord, his attorneys said.

 

Police in Shahdara Town, near Lahore, arrested Khuram Masih, 23, on Dec. 5 and charged him under Section 295-B after his landlord, Zulfiqar Ali, accused him of burning pages of the Quran in order to prepare tea, the attorneys said. Section 295-B makes willful desecration of the Quran or use of an extract in a derogatory manner punishable with life imprisonment.

 

Masih told his attorneys he was falsely accused because he had had an argument with Ali earlier in the day over the rent of the house in which he and his wife, Bano, a convert from Hinduism, have been living along with five other families in recent months.

 

“The charges are completely fabricated,” Masih told attorneys. “Ali has accused me of burning pages of a quranic booklet that had been [later] placed in a cavity in the wall [to keep them from touching the floor], while the truth is that the walls of our room and courtyard are cemented, and there’s no hole or cavity where the pages could have been placed.”

 

Another of Ali’s tenants, a neighbor of Masih, told the landlord that he had seen Masih and Bano burning the pages of the Quran to make tea and spread the word to other area Muslims, according to the First Information Report (FIR). Soon a crowd of Muslims gathered near Masih’s house and started shouting slogans against the Christians, and Muslim leaders made announcements from several mosques calling for severe punishment of the Christian couple.

 

Ali, the main complainant in the FIR (No. 1112/11), states in the FIR that he had the couple arrested after he visited their house and found burned pages of an “Arabic Qaida,” a small copy of the Quran. He states that the first two or three pages were burned and that Masih and Bano had probably used them along with some other materials for a fire to heat up water for tea.

 

Ali states in the FIR that he later realized Bano had no role in the incident, as she was sleeping while Masih prepared the tea. Police released her after questioning.

 

Masih, a low-income laborer, told a legal team from the Community Development Initiative (CDI), an affiliate of the European Centre for Law and Justice, that he had had an argument with Ali on the day of the incident and had found out about the charges only that evening.

 

Masih appeared in court on Saturday (Dec. 24), but the judge did not show up. A trial date is now scheduled for Jan. 7, with a bail hearing set for Jan 3.

 

A CDI team member told Compass that Masih was visibly shaken by the charges against him and wept as he sought protection for his wife, who is now living with Masih’s relatives.

 

CDI Executive Director Asif Aqeel told Compass that his team has appointed Niaz Amer to handle Masih’s case.

 

“The case is yet another example of how the blasphemy laws are misused to settle personal issues,” Aqeel said. “There’s no use moving for bail in the trial court because the lower courts cannot sustain pressure in such cases … We will make efforts for his bail in the Lahore High Court once the proceedings begin.”

 

Christian rights activist Khalid Shahzad told Compass that Masih didn’t know about the charges until he went to police to get his wife released from custody.

 

“Masih didn’t even know about the charges until then, because he wasn’t home,” Shahzad said.

 

Shahzad said that soon after news of the alleged desecration began spreading, he and other Christian leaders started efforts to defuse religious tensions threatening the lives and property of between 15,000 and 16,000 Christians living in the Shahdara area.

 

“Panic among Christians spread after announcements were made from mosques, and several people left their houses anticipating violence,” he said. “Thank God the situation normalized in a couple of days, although we have strictly forbidden our boys from standing in groups outside their homes or in streets and from reacting on unconfirmed reports.”

 

Shahzad said police were hasty in registering the case.

 

“They did not follow the procedure while booking Masih, as no police officer below the level of superintendent of police can investigate blasphemy charges,” he said.

 

Mian Shafqat, officer in charge of the investigation, said that police had seized the allegedly burned pages from the “scene of the crime” and that police had proven that Masih had intentionally burned them.

 

Under Pakistan’s internationally condemned blasphemy laws, conviction under Section 295-C for derogatory comments about Muhammad is punishable by death, though life imprisonment is also possible. Section 295-A prohibits injuring or defiling places of worship and “acts intended to outrage religious feelings.” It is punishable by life imprisonment, which in Pakistan is 25 years.

 

www.compassdirect.org

 

END

 

Family of Convert in Pakistan Seeks to Track Him Down

Christian loses livelihood, relatives for leaving Islam.

LAHORE, Pakistan, December 8 (CDN) — When Malik Pauloos of Bhakkar district, Punjab Province finally decided to trust a close relative with the secret that he had left Islam for Christianity, there was no question in his relative’s mind that Pauloos’ relationship with the family was over.

The family had been custodian of an Islamic shrine, the Pir Syed Karamat Shah in Kot Islam, for three generations. Though Pauloos had moved to Karachi, the capital of Sindh Province, 20 years ago to start a scrap business, he had continued fulfilling his duty to prepare the shrine for annual pilgrimages – but after he withdrew from it over time upon his conversion, shrine leaders were asking pointed questions about his adherence to Islam.

“I told him [the relative] to get the shrine people off my back, because I did not want to keep any point of contact with my past life,” Pauloos, 36, told Compass. “Although shocked, my relative said that he would first try and make my family understand the situation, and then they could figure out a way of letting me walk away peacefully.”

Pauloos did not realize that, beyond disowning him, his family would file a police complaint against him because – as a murtad or apostate deserving death – he was said to have committed “blasphemy.” With authorities’ help, family members are trying to track him down, he said.

Days before his baptism in September, a Pashtun scrap dealer heard about his conversion. A couple of Christians the dealer and Pauloos knew were sitting at the dealer’s shop when they started discussing the United States, whose relations with Pakistan have hit new lows in the past few months.

“The Pashtun man proudly claimed that many Americans were converting to Islam, but he was in for a big surprise when the Christians told him that I, a [formerly] devout Muslim, have been actively participating in church activities and had recently converted,” Pauloos said.

The Pashtun trader immediately conveyed the information to Pauloos’ family, and he received a call from one of his cousins, an engineer, who asked him to return to Punjab and explain.

“I told him I could not come back because of my business in Karachi, but he kept insisting that I should return to Bhakkar and deny reports that I had converted,” Pauloos said. “He then started threatening me that if I didn’t return home within three days, they would spread the news and even put the police after me on blasphemy charges. I told him that the threats were meaningless to me. He put down the phone, but before doing so he said that I would be responsible for the consequences.”

The next day his father put up a notice in local newspapers disowning him, he said.

“I called my cousin and told him that now that they had disowned me, they should know that I had indeed become a Christian and would not renounce Christ even if they killed me,” he said.

Pauloos said that he left his business last month and came to Punjab, where he has been traveling from one city to another sharing his experience of Christ.

Baptized in September after spending more than 10 years learning about the Christian faith, Pauloos said he does not regret trusting in Christ as Savior even though he has lost a comfortable life and a successful business and his Muslim family and friends are in hot pursuit to “kill the apostate.”

Family members had begun to grow suspicious when they heard that he was regularly seen in the company of Christian pastors and was avoiding the Islamic shrine and its spiritual head, Baba Raees.

“In fact, Raees had also expressed concern over my lack of interest in the shrine’s activities over the years and had asked one of my cousins to investigate why I wasn’t taking his calls,” Pauloos said. “Fearing that my disclosure would imperil the lives of all Christians connected with me, I told my family that I was keeping contact with the Christians to understand their faith, and that this was merely an education for me. I did not want my family to know that I had lost confidence in Islam and wanted to walk away from the faith of my elders.”

In an attempt to dispel the impression that he had become “murtad,” he visited the shrine one final time in 2010.

“Raees and other people made repeated attempts to judge whether I was still a Muslim or had renounced my faith, but I gave them the same reason that I had given to my family,” he said. “In September this year, I got baptized in Faisalabad. The whole affair was kept a secret because of the security situation in Pakistan.”

A relative told him that his family and Muslims associated with the shrine were using their influence to send the police after him, he said.

“They have publicly announced that I would have to pay for my ‘crime,’ but even death will not deter me from giving up my Christian walk,” he said.

When he told his Christian friends of the threats on his life, many suggested that he relocate to another country, he said, but he told them he would neither leave Pakistan nor yield to the demands of hostile Muslims.

“I will serve the Lord in my country even if it means putting my life on the line,” he said.

Haunted Journey
Stories abound of Muslims coming to Christ through dreams, but Pauloos’ journey began with nightmares.

They began haunting him in 2000, and his health deteriorated as he tried all possible remedies. Increasingly going without sleep, his condition worsened as he spent several nights fearing his nightmares might turn into reality. One day he shared his problem with a Christian acquaintance, who suggested that he visit a pastor and request prayer.

“I went to meet the pastor in Karachi and shared my problem with him,” he said. “He listened intently and then prayed for me. Before he started praying, he asked me if I had faith that Christ could help me. As Muslims, we hold Jesus Christ in high esteem as a prophet and also believe that He performed miracles. I said yes, and the pastor started praying. As he was praying, I felt as if someone was brushing off the dirt from me … I started breathing!”

Before he left, the pastor, whose name is withheld for security reasons, shared some verses of the Bible with him.

“He told me things about Christ that I had never heard or read before and said that I could come visit him whenever I needed help,” he said, adding that he went to the pastor two or three more times for prayer, and his condition began to improve.

Pauloos said that he did not have any nightmares for a year.

“In 2001, I again started suffering from the dreaded nightmares and shared this with the pastor,” he said. “He invited me to his church. It was the first time I had participated in any Christian worship. His congregation welcomed me warmly and gave me immense respect. Then they all prayed for ‘their Muslim brother,’ and this gesture further attracted me toward Christ.”

Increasing contact with the Christians left him “greatly inspired,” he said, and when he found himself on a road in Haripur to meet with an uncle who had been in an accident in northwest Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, he felt himself drawn to a small church building, he said.

“As if on cue, my feet started heading towards that direction,” he said. “I met the church’s pastor and shared with him my experiences in Karachi.”

The pastor, whose name is withheld for security reasons, gave him his first Bible, he said, and he attended his church service a few times.

“But then word about this spread in the city, and the pastor requested I stop going there, because it could endanger the lives of Christians living in the area,” Pauloos said. “He apologized for having to ask me to stop, but I told him that I understood the consequences the congregation would have to face and left the city after a few days.”

Back in Karachi, Pauloos said he started reading the Bible regularly and, in order to better understand it, also initiated contacts with other pastors. He recalled one pastor, whose name is withheld for security reasons, who came from the same caste as his.

“He offered a special prayer for me, asking God to guide me as I searched for the truth,” Pauloos said.

He said that in June, he traveled to Iran and Armenia on business, carrying his Bible the whole time.

“In Tehran I strongly felt that the time had come for me to get water baptism and start a new life in Christ,” he said. “I decided that I would take water baptism as soon as I got back.”

END

Christian Leader Shot Dead in Pakistan in Suspected Islamist Attack

By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

MCLEAN, VA. (ANS) -- A leading figure in the Christian community has been shot dead in Pakistan, having previously received death threats.

The Funeral of Jameel Sawan

According to a news release from the Barnabas Fund, Jameel Sawan, a preacher, evangelist and champion of minority rights, was gunned down in Karachi on Nov. 16.

He was a city businessman, but spent a lot of his time pastoring Christians and sharing the Gospel with Muslims.

The Barnabas Fund said Sawan had also been a close aide to Saleem Khursheed Khokhar, who is chairman of the Standing Committee on Minorities Affairs in the Sindh Assembly and president of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance in Sindh.

Both men had received death threats from Muslim extremists because of their involvement in campaigning for minority rights and support for policies initiated by the assassinated Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti.

The Barnabas Fund said Khokhar initiated a two-minute silence at the Sindh Assembly for Sawan, as well as three Hindu doctors who were killed in Shikarpur a few days earlier. He also appealed for protection and financial assistance for Sawan’s family.

Sawan leaves a wife, two sons and three daughters. His family believes that he was targeted by a radical Muslim group.

Barnabas Fund provides hope and assistance for the persecuted church. For more information go towww.barnabasfund.org/US/About-us/Who-we-are

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Jeremy Reynalds is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, a freelance writer and also the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "Homeless in the City." Additional details on "Homeless in the City" are available athttp://www.homelessinthecity.com. Reynalds lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net.

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** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

Female student expelled in Pakistan because of blasphemy allegations

By Rodrick Samson, 
Special to ASSIST News Service

LAHORE, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- A female Ahmadi student in her final year of studies, has been expelled from CIIT (COMSATS Institute of Information Technology) in Lahore on allegations of blasphemy.

According to sources, Rabia Saleem was accused of blasphemy by the student wing of the a banned organization TKN (Tahaffuz-e-Khatam-e-Nabuwwat). Rabia Saleem is a student in her final year at CIIT and lived in the hostel. Apparently, she removed a banner displayed by TKN against the Ahmadi community which had been posted on the hostel door. She is an Amhadi herself, and the hostel guard saw her removing the poster and created a scene, exploiting the situation and accusing her of committing blasphemy by dishonoring the verses of the Quran.

Nasreen Ghulam, another CIIT student, said the banner displayed at the hostel door contained material against the Ahmadis, but didn't have any Quranic verses, and that Saleem was falsely accused for her faith.

Rasheed Ahmed Khan, the Registrar of the institute, denied any connection between the removal of the poster and the student’s faith. “Rabia Saleem has been expelled for violating the discipline of the Institution and not complying with the rules and regulations.” He refused to provide a copy of the notice that was served to the student on her dismissal.

A CIIT faculty member, on condition of anonymity said, "It was a petty matter, and could have been resolved by the warden and the administration, but the warden, along with the security guard and CIIT administration, exploited the situation against the Ahmadi student.

“The administration has a very discriminating attitude towards religious minorities and never leaves a chance to take action against them. In the past, several similar incidents have taken place, but the administration allowed the Tahaffuz-e-Khatam-e-Nabuwwat to continue their propaganda against the Ahmadis. The administration allows the TKN to act, and because of the support from the administration they have become stronger. The religious organizations should be barred from all the educational institutes, they are harboring terrorists by allowing such organizations to act freely and do whatever they like."

The TKN has been displaying banners against the Ahmadis, and the administration has expelled the student with TKN`s support and allowed them to display banners containing hatred against the religious minorities and to protest against the Ahmadis. They announced they will not allow any Ahmadi student to live on the campus and will even kill if any of them resists. TKN has also started campaigns against the Ahmadis on various social networks as well.

The CIIT administration is allowing such extremist activities to continue in the campus, and the concerned authorities and the Ministry of Education are silently observing the situation, while allowing the propaganda against the Ahmadi students.

The Ahmadis have been living in continuous fear since earlier this year an Ahmadi Seminary was attacked in Lahore, and hundreds of innocent people were killed. In the past several years, persecution against the Ahmadis has been on the rise.

In September, an 8th grader was expelled for a spelling mistake in the Urdu exam in Abbotabad. Her mother was also transferred from Abbotabad.

Humanitarian organizations, Masihi Foundation and Life for All Pakistan, have come out against the incident and issued a joint statement, which says: "We strongly condemn the incident. The administration of the institution must be condemned for supporting a religious organization and allowing them to act against the Code of Conduct. The institution`s spokesperson said that the Ahmadi student was expelled for violating discipline; (but) displaying banners against religious minorities is not a violation of the discipline? Openly announcing a religious minority liable to be killed is allowed in an educational institution, is this not violation of the regulations and humanity? Where are we headed? Why was a banner against a religious minority allowed to be displayed at the hostel door? Many students suffer discrimination in the educational institutions, but no one addresses the matter. I fail to understand the role of the education Ministry, if they don’t do anything for the education, then what is the need of having such a department, it is merely a burden on the nation, simply abolish such ministries which are not performing their designated duties. The state is allowing the religious hatred to grow and is not taking notice of the growing persecution. The extremist mindset is growing and taking over. If this continues, Pakistan will lose all the sane people alive. Ensuring the safety of the minorities is the state`s responsibility.”

“Quaid-e-Azam,the founder of Pakistan, said every citizen has the right to practice his or her religion freely, anyone`s religion is their personal matter, and not the matter of the State.

“Is today`s Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam`s Pakistan? The Director of COMSATS should have immediately resigned because of such a shameful incident.

“This is the reason religious and state affairs should be kept separate. The concerned authorities must intervene and take the necessary action. The growing extremism in the educational institutions must be checked, no one should be allowed to speak or do anything against any religion. Tolerance and harmony must be promoted, the religious leaders must play a positive role and condemn such incidents, so that in the future, students like Rabia Saleem do not suffer. The only Pakistani who won the Noble Peace Prize, Abdul Salam, was never given the place he deserved only because he was an Ahamdi. It is about time the government takes steps to end the religious extremism before it consumes the nation like a plague."

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Rodrick Samson is a freelance journalist based in Pakistan

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Evangelist Shot Dead in Pakistan

Christian who wanted to serve the poor had received threats from area Muslims.

KARACHI, Pakistan, November 18 (CDN) — An evangelist was shot dead here on Wednesday (Nov. 16) by an unidentified gunman in what his family believes was a radical Muslim group’s targeting of a Christian.


Zahid Jameel, 25, told Compass that his father, Jameel Saawan, and a helper were opening the doors of their cosmetics shop in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal area of Pakistan’s commercial hub of Karachi on Wednesday morning when a young man appeared and shot his father, first in the neck and then in the face.


The assassin fled on a motorcycle on which two people were waiting, keeping watch for him, Jameel said.


“We firmly believe that my father was killed because of his preaching of the Bible, because there is no other reason,” Jameel said.


His father had not spoken of any threats on his life in recent weeks, though he had received threats after voicing his desire to start a welfare organization for poor Christians in the Essanagri area of Karachi two years ago, Jameel said.


“That could not materialize after he started receiving threats from some unknown forces,” Jameel said. “We do not know who threatened him, but my mother persuaded him not to put his life in danger, for our sake.”


Nevertheless, Jameel said that his father continued to preach and was widely respected for being a vocal supporter of the Christian community.


“We live in a rented apartment and our shops are also on lease – we don’t have any property, and no enemies, which is why we are shocked by our father’s killing,” he said. “It wasn’t a robbery, because the assassin only walked towards my father and shot at him.”


Zahid said that his mother was in a state of shock, as were his three sisters and older brother, Shahid.


“Our father has been gunned down for no reason at all,” Jameel said. “He used to share the Word with Muslims, but I have never heard that he entered into an argument with any person.”


Jameel said that the family had moved to Karachi from Quetta about 10 years ago, with his father starting the cosmetics business two years later.


“My father was a very religious man, and some years ago he decided that it was time for him to reach out to the people and share the Good News with them,” he said. “Every day he would visit several families to share the Word of God and was very content with his life.”


His father used to sit with him at his shop from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., then go off to visit Christian families to share the Bible, Jameel said. On the day of the murder, however, his father reached the shop 15 minutes ahead of him.


“The young boy who helps me in my shop told us that he was opening the locks of the other door when he heard a gunshot,” he said. “The boy then saw my father trying to grasp the assailant, but the man fired another bullet that hit my father in the cheek and exited from the back of his head, killing him instantly.”


Michael Javed, a former member of the Sindh provincial assembly, told Compass that he had known the victim for several years, as both of them are from Quetta.


“Saawan was a very good man and was always eager to help his community,” Javed said. “I also think that he was killed by some religious forces, because he had shared with me once that he was receiving threats from some quarters.”


The former legislator said that no one had come forward to record statements with the police because of fears for their security, and it was highly unlikely that Saawan’s killers would be caught.


“There used to be quite a few cases of such nature in Sindh, but now the situation for minorities is worsening,” he said. “The government needs to make efforts to provide security to our people.”


Napolean Qayyum of the Pakistan People’s Party Minorities Wing told Compass that the PPP-led Sindh government would make all possible efforts to apprehend Saawan’s killers.


“President Asif Zardari’s spokesman has told me that the president had tasked Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Wassan to investigate the incident and report back to him,” he said, adding that Wassan was likely to visit the family today.


Sharing Life Ministry’s Sohail Johnson said he regretted that the killing of the evangelist would instill further fear in Christians in the city.


“Pastor Saawan’s brutal murder shows that the forces of extremism and intolerance will go to any extent to disrupt peace and harmony in Pakistan,” he said.


Although police registered the case on Wednesday (Nov. 16), they have yet to make any progress in the investigation, sources said.


Saawan’s family was preparing for his burial today, still holding onto some hope that one day his killers will be brought to justice.



END

Help Free Asia Bibi Now -- Join in a Call For Mercy

‘“Our Christ sacrificed His life on the cross for our sins. ... Our Christ is alive‘ -- Asia Bibi


By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

BARTLESVILLE, OK (ANS) -- The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), based in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, has launched an online petition -- www.CallForMercy.com -- to free Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian mother of five, who has been sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy.

Asia Bibi (Photo: VOM)

In Pakistan alone, more than 150,000 Christians have signed a petition demanding justice for persecution victims, including Asia Bibi. Now you can join with The Voice of the Martyrs and our Pakistani brothers and sisters in a call for mercy.

“We hope to gather 1 million signatures on behalf of our sister Asia, who now sits in prison awaiting the Lahore High Court's ruling on her appeal,” said a spokesperson for VOM.

VOM has supplied this case history of Asia Bibi which follows:

Asia Bibi, a Christian wife and mother in Pakistan, was arrested by police on June 19, 2009, and charged with blasphemy after she engaged in a religious discussion with co-workers. Many of the local women, including Asia, worked on the farm of Muslim landowner Muhammad Idrees. Her family was one of only three Christian families in a village of more than 1,500 families. During their work, many of the Muslim women had pressured Asia to renounce Christianity and accept Islam.

On June 19, 2009 there was an intense discussion among the women about their faith. The Muslim women told Asia about Islam, and, according to VOM sources, Asia responded by telling the Muslim women that Jesus is alive. “Our Christ sacrificed His life on the cross for our sins...Our Christ is alive.” She told them. Upon hearing this response, the Muslim women became angry and began to beat Asia. Then some men took her and locked her in a room. They announced from mosque loudspeakers that she would be punished by having her face blackened and being paraded through the village on a donkey.

Local Christians informed the police, who took Asia into protective custody before the Muslims could carry out their plan. Christians urged the police not to file blasphemy charges, but the police claimed they had to go forward because of pressure from local Muslim leaders.

After a lengthy trial, on Nov. 8, 2010, Asia Bibi was sentenced to death by a judge. The judge also fined Asia $1,190 (U.S.) and told her she had seven days to appeal the decision. Her attorneys filed the appeal promptly, and now wait for the Lahore High Court to rule. If the appeal is rejected, Asia would be the first woman to be lawfully executed under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. She remains in prison, waiting to hear the high court’s ruling.

On Jan. 4, 2011 the governor of Punjab province, where Asia lives, was assassinated by a member of his security team. Though a Muslim, Salmaan Taseer had spoken out repeatedly in favor of a pardon for Asia Bibi and for a reexamination of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. Governor Taseer also met with Asia in prison. On March 2, 2011, Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian member of Pakistan’s cabinet and another person who had spoken out on behalf of Asia Bibi, was also assassinated for his support of her.

Asia's husband, Ashiq, and daughters, Isha and Isham, pray for her release (Photo: VOM)

The Voice of the Martyrs has supported Asia Bibi and her family since the time of her arrest. In July, 2011, VOM launched www.CallForMercy.com in an effort to gather 1,000,000 signatures from around the world asking for Asia’s release.

VOM says, “Invite your friends to visitwww.CallForMercy.com and add their names to the petition as well. VOM will deliver the petition, along with the list of signers, to the Pakistani Embassy in Washington DC.”

So far, VOM says that some 476,816 signatures have been collected for the petition, which have included 186,945 from the United States.

 

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Dan Wooding, 70, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 48 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California which is also carried throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK and also in Belize and South Africa. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 200 countries and also provides a regular commentary for Worship Life Radio on KWVE. You can follow Dan Wooding on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available this link.

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Progress in Pakistani Rape Case, but Alleged Victim’s Father Dies

One suspect arrested, bail of another cancelled after intervention by rights group.

By Murad Khan

LAHORE, Pakistan, October 4 (Compass Direct News) – A Christian mother of five who was allegedly raped by two Muslims rejoiced after police in Pakistan’s Kasur district arrested a suspect and suspended an officer who had dismissed her complaints, but her solace was short-lived when her father collapsed and died Friday night (Sept. 30) after learning of her ordeal.

The 32-year-old woman and her husband, municipal worker Mushtaq Masih, told Compass by phone that they had lost hope of getting justice as they were facing threats from area Muslims to withdraw the case even as police were deliberately slow to investigate and arrest the accused.

Heartened after advocate pressure led to the arrest last week of one of the primary suspects in the case, the woman, whose name is withheld, went to visit her father late Friday night (Sept. 30). Up to that point she had not been able to bear informing her siblings and 70-year-old father, Gama Masih, about being raped on Sept. 15, but the family felt it was unwise to refrain further.

“As soon as my wife shared her ordeal with her family, her father collapsed and died on the spot,” Mushtaq Masih said. “He could not take the pain. My wife is in a state of shock. She lost her honor, and now she has lost her father. We have suffered a lot in the last 15 days.”

The woman said she was returning home to Mustafabad, in Punjab Province’s Kasur district, when two Muslims along with an unidentified accomplice abducted her at gunpoint, took her to an abandoned house in the area and raped her. 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 couple said that soon after their plight received media attention, representatives of the Community Development Initiative (CDI), a non-government Christian organization affiliated with the European Centre for Law and Justice, offered them legal aid.

“This was a great blessing for us,” Masih said. “We are poor people and were under great pressure to withdraw the charges. The families of the accused men and other Muslims were pressuring us to withdraw the case. Some offered us money in exchange, others threatened harm to our family if we did not concede to their demand.”

Police had initially arrested a suspect identified only as Shera, 27, but the woman declined to identify him as the assailant because she and her husband had been threatened with death by Muslims at the police station, who also threatened to rape their daughters. The couple said the Muslims told them they should not forget that they were chooras or “sweepers,” a derogatory word for Christians in Pakistan.

Masih said that CDI lawyer Niaz Aamer helped to jump-start an effort to arrest Shera and the other suspect, identified only as 23-year-old Pahlu (previously identified as Bhallu). CDI Executive Director Asif Aqeel told Compass his team accompanied the victim and her husband to the office of District Police Officer (DPO) Syed Khurram Ali Shah and complained about the prejudice of Investigating Officer Muhammad Sharif, who had dismissed the Christians’ accusations that police had sought money in exchange for dropping the case and refused to acknowledge that Muslims were threatening the woman’s family and needed police protection.

“The DPO took strong notice of the investigating officer’s behavior and suspended him immediately,” Aqeel said.

The woman told the DPO how the suspects and other Muslims had intimidated her into declining to identify Shera, and Shah ordered his subordinates to bring Shera to his office so she could identify him again, Aqeel said.

“Shera was produced before the DPO and was handcuffed soon after the woman pointed him out as one of her two rapists,” Aqeel said.

He added that Aamer also filed a court petition for the cancellation of bail for Pahlu, which was granted. Police have since begun making raids to arrest the other suspects.

The families of the accused had offered some US$2,500 to the woman’s family in exchange for dropping the charges, Aqeel said, and the suspects’ lawyers also approached Aamer in court and offered him US$500 to “misguide and abandon” the Christian family.

The two Muslim lawyers told Aamer he was pursuing the case of “low-born laborers,” Aqeel said. They told the CDI lawyer, “It’s not a big deal if our boys had some fun. Let’s just finish the case and you also get to keep your fee,” Aqeel said, adding that Aamer rejected their offer.

Shera’s arrest and the cancellation of Pahlu’s bail sent a wave of jubilation through the Christian community of the Laliani area of Mustafabad, as the Christians were not accustomed to such victories.

“Malik Faraz, the pastor of the United Presbyterian Church of the area, telephoned me to share the jubilation of his people,” Aqeel said, praising the DPO for providing justice to the Christian family.

Before the death of her father, the woman on Friday afternoon expressed satisfaction on developments to Compass and said “her faith in God had strengthened.”

“I used to weep in my heart all the time, ever since the incident took place,” she said. “I didn’t have any hope, but my Lord has not forsaken me.”

www.compassdirect.org

END

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Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News

Pakistan: Muslim men ’kidnap’ Christian girl in Gujranwala to ’purify her’

By Jawad Mazhar
Special Correspondent for ANS, reporting from Pakistan
GUJRANWALA, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- 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.

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Jawad Mazhar is a Pakistani journalist specializing in writing about Christian persecution. He was born on November 28, 1976 at Sargodha's village Chak and raised in Sargodha, a city in Pakistan’s Punjab province. He earned his Bachelors Degree from Allama Iqbal Open University majoring in computer sciences and has taught at various educational institutes in his country. He is also involved with “Rays of Development,” an organization working for minority rights in Pakistan. He says, “My aim is to help eradicate Christian persecution through my writing as I bring the plight of these brave people under the spotlight of the whole world.”

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Christian Nurse in Pakistan Boldly Opts to Report Videotaped Rape

Colleague tries to blackmail her into converting to Islam, marrying him.

By Murad Khan

 

LAHORE, Pakistan, September 8 (Compass Direct News) – A Christian nurse here filed a police report on Saturday (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.

 

Shaista Samuel, a 27-year-old nurse at the Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS), filed a First Information Report (FIR) at Shadman police station accusing Ali Adnan, an assistant accounts officer 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.

 

“[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.”

 

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.

 

Samuel said she had worked several years at the hospital on good terms with Adnan.

 

“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 told Compass.

 

Recently, however, Adnan had begun acting strangely toward her, she said.

 

“He started criticizing Christians for not observing the purdah [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.”

 

Adnan began harassing her at the workplace and by telephone, she said.

 

“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.”

 

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.

 

“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.’”

 

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.

 

In Pakistan, a rape victim is generally considered too shamed to resume a normal life or pursue marriage.

 

“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.”

 

Her misery did not end there – Adnan began trying to blackmail her by phone, she added.

 

“At first he demanded that I convert to Islam, and only then would he consider forgiving me for refusing his proposal,” she said.

 

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.

 

“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.”

 

Adnan left the house, leaving the family, members of Church of Pakistan-affiliated St. Andrews Church, in deep anguish.

 

“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.”

 

Compass tried to reach Adnan for comment, but he was unavailable as he had turned off his cell phone.

 

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.

 

“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.”

 

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.

 

“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.

 

Javaid told Compass that the committee would record the statements of the complainant and the accused and would also examine the circumstantial evidence.

 

www.compassdirect.org

 

END

 

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Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News

Pakistan: At Last Police Have Admitted That Taliban Were behind Christian Minister Shahbaz Bhatti's Murder

They have backed away from previous claim that a ’family dispute’ was behind it

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries


ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Shahbaz Bhatti, 42, the first-ever Christian to serve in the Pakistan cabinet, who had vigorously campaigned for minority religious rights in Pakistan, which is 95 percent Muslim, was killed by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Shahbaz Bhatti

This news was told to Pakistan’s Senate Standing Committee (Interior) on August 24, 2011, by Islamabad’s most senior police officer, IGP Bani Amin Khan, according to The Express Tribune.

“The IGP said that the police had identified two suspects, but they had gone abroad -- to Dubai -- before they could be caught,” said a message sent to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net )by Aftab Alexander Mughal, editor with Minorities Concern of Pakistan.
According to this group, Bhatti had received numerous death threats from religious extremists before his assassination.

Bhatti had criticized the country's blasphemy laws, which makes it a capital crime to insult Islam, and has also campaigned for the release of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother-of-five who has been sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy and is appealing her sentence on death row.

According to a story by Declan Walsh in Islamabad writing for The Guardian newspaper in the UK, Bhatti had predicted his own death. In a farewell statement recorded four months before he was killed and to be broadcast in the event of his death, he spoke of threats from the Taliban and al-Qaida. To see the video, please go to: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/02/pakistan-minister-shot-dead-islamabad
Walsh went on to say, “But he vowed not to stop speaking for marginalized Christians and other minorities. ‘I will die to defend their rights,’ he said on the tape released to the BBC and al-Jazeera. ‘These threats and these warnings cannot change my opinions and principles.’”

Blood stained car after assassination of Mr. Bhatti

Walsh then described the killing: “A small white car carrying gunmen blocked his way. After an initial burst of fire they dragged Bhatti's driver from the vehicle, then continued firing through a side window. ‘It lasted about twenty seconds,’ said a neighbor, Naseem Javed. ‘When I rushed out I saw the minister's driver standing by the car, shivering, and his niece weeping and shouting.’

“‘They fired 25 bullets,’ said a police officer beside a bullet-pocked pavement, holding a handful of brass Kalashnikov bullet cases.”
Walsh added, “As they left the gunmen flung pamphlets on to the road that blamed President Asif Ali Zardari’s government for putting an ‘infidel Christian’ in charge of a committee to review the blasphemy laws. The government insists no such committee exists. ‘With the blessing of Allah, the mujahideen will send each of you to hell,’ said the note.

This latest news shows that the police are backtracking from a previous claim that police investigators in Pakistan were developing a theory that the murder of Mr. Bhatti was due to a “family dispute,” not religious extremism, according to a story on August 9, in the Express Tribune English daily newspaper.

However, this claim was strongly criticized by Christian groups in Pakistan. “This is just another cover up. They want to show that Shahbaz was not killed by religious extremists,” Victor Azariah, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Pakistan (NCCP), told ENInews on August 12, 2011, from his office in Lahore.

Now the police have backed away from this strange assertion and are finally going after the real culprits.

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Dan Wooding, 70, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 48 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California which is also carried throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK and also in Belize and South Africa. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 200 countries. You can follow Dan on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available this link.

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** You may republish this story with proper attribution.