Pakistan Daily Times reports: ‘Blasphemy’ claims three more victims
— “Factory owner killed by workers for ‘desecrating holy Quran’ in Sheikhupura”
— “A worker entered Najeebullah’s factory at around 2pm and saw that the owner had taken down an outdated calendar — which had verses from the holy Quran written on it — and put it on a table”
— “The worker then misbehaved with the owner over — what he thought — was ‘desecration’ of the holy Quran.”
— “When a guard tried to stop him, he ran out into the working area and started gathering his colleagues, claiming the owner had committed ‘blasphemy’.”
— “When an enraged mob subsequently surrounded Najeebullah, his guard tried to protect him by firing in the air, but the crowd started firing shots at the owner and his guard.”
— “The channel said a large number of workers also attacked the factory administration and beat up several employees. They also blocked the road leading to the factory for three hours and later set the unit on fire.”
— “Heavy police contingents rushed to the factory to bring the situation under control, but the angry mob seized their weapons.”
Category: Blasphemy and Defamation of Religion
Pakistan: Mob attacks home of 60-year-old woman in Extremist “blasphemy” charge
— Pakistan Daily Times reports: “An angry mob attacked the house of a 60-year-old woman in Sanghar district in Sindh in another alleged incident of desecration of the holy Quran, a private TV channel reported late on Wednesday. Following the attack, the police shifted the woman, Akhtari Malkani, to the police station from a katchi abadi area in the district. The District Bar Association officials assured the mob that a case would be registered against the woman if she was found guilty. Despite assurance from the lawyers and police, the people demanded that the woman should be handed over to them and pelted stones at the police station building and burned tyres on road.”
“Pakistan Muslim Groups Threaten More Violence”
ICC Reports: “Pakistan Muslim Groups Threaten More Violence”
— “Threaten to Hang Christian, Demand Release of Clerics Arrested for Inciting Violence”
— “Several Muslim groups met in Gojra, Pakistan, today to hold a press conference call on the government to exonerate religious leaders accused of inciting the anti-Christian attacks that occurred this past weekend. In addition, they threatened to hang the Christian whose alleged blasphemy sparked the violence.”
— “Muslim groups Jamiyat Islami Gojra (a religious group) and Anjam-e-Tajran (a trade union) initially condemned last weekend’s violence in their statements.”
— “However, they quickly reversed course by calling for the release of Ulma and the other clerics named in the official police report.”
— “They further contradicted their initial statement by threatening to hang Talib Masih and others accused of blasphemy in the Gojra bazaar if the government had not arrested him by August 10.”
— “This press conference is a sign that the government has not restored the rule of law in this area and is risking another outbreak of violence by its delay in responding adequately to the situation.”
Pakistani Christian in USA have announced here today to hold Press Conference on August 10, at Washington DC and on August 12, 2009,
Pakistan: Christians Burned to Death (including women and children), Mob Burns Houses, Church in Punjab’s Gojra – Korian Area
Pakistan: Hate Engulfs Christians in Pakistan
Pakistan – Report of Mob Burning Christian Homes for Alleged Extremist “Blasphemy”
Pakistan: Christians Burned to Death (including women and children), Mob Burns Houses, Church in Punjab’s Gojra – Korian Area
Compass reports: “Pakistan – Christians Burned to Death in Islamist Attacks”
— “14 believers reportedly killed; more than 100 homes burned in Gojra town, Korian village”
— “extremists today set ablaze more than 50 houses and a church in this town in northeastern Pakistan following an accusation of ‘blasphemy’ of the Quran, leaving at least 14 Christians dead, sources said.”
— “The dead include women and children, with several other burn victims unable to reach hospitals for medical care, according to the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement.”
— “The attack came amid a protest by thousands of Muslim Islamists — including members of banned militant groups — that resulted in another six people dying when participants shot at police and officers responded with tear gas and gunfire.”
— “The same rumor of desecration of the Quran that led to today’s massive protest and attack in Gojra, 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Faisalabad, also prompted an arson assault on Thursday (July 30) by extremists on the village of Korian, seven miles from Gojra, that gutted 60 houses.”
— “Punjab Minister for Law Rana Sanaullah reportedly said an initial investigation of allegations of the Quran being blasphemed indicated ‘there has not been any incident of desecration.'”
Daily Telegraph reports: “Pakistan faces Christian protest after eight people ‘burned alive'”
— “Missionary schools across Pakistan closed on Monday in a three day protest against the deaths of up to seven Christians who were burned alive in clashes with Muslims”
— “Two children – a brother and sister aged six and 13 – their parents and 75-year-old grandfather were among those killed in violence that broke out in Gojra in Punjab province on Saturday”
— “One report said that six Christians died in flames, while two were killed by gunshots”
— “Muslims torched Christians’ homes following unsubstantiated allegations some of them had desecrated the Koran. Some 40 homes were burned down.”
— “Paramilitary troops and other security forces were patrolling the city Monday.”
— “Gojra is in Pakistan’s Faisalabad region, which is dotted with hard-line Islamist schools.”
— “Government officials have said preliminary investigations showed there was no desecration of the Koran and that a ‘rumour’ was being exploited by anti-state elements to create chaos.”
— “‘Christian schools will remain closed for three days from today to mourn the death of innocent people in Gojra,’ said Bishop Sadiq Daniel, head of the Church of Pakistan diocese in Karachi and southwestern Baluchistan province. ‘There is no proof of blasphemy, but if someone has done that he, and not the entire community, should be punished.'”
— “Desecration of the Koran is punishable by death in Pakistan.”
— “While Christian schools and colleges in Punjab are largely closed for summer vacation, they were set to reopen in Pakistan’s biggest city of Karachi on Monday.”
— “Pakistan is a predominantly Muslim country and religious minorities, including Christians, account for roughly 4 percent of the 170 million population.”
Dawn reports: Negligence of officials blamed for Gojra riots
— “They protested against attacks on their houses and burning alive of seven members of their community by a mob”
— “Violence had broken out in a Gojra village on Thursday after an alleged incident of desecration of the Holy Quran during a wedding ceremony”
— “The arrested men include Qari Abdul Khaliq Kashmiri, a leader of the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan”
Pakistan Daily Times reports: Sipah Sahaba “used acid and petrol bombs to destroy property and kill Christian women and children, while the local government and police simply did nothing”
—- but Pakistan Daily Times does not condemn blasphemy law
Times of India reports: 9 killed in communal violence in Pakistan’s Punjab province
— “Hundreds of Muslims gathered this morning and marched towards Christian homes at Azafi Abadi village, 160 km from Lahore. Witnesses said at least three persons were killed and some others injured when police fired at a mob that was trying to forcibly enter the homes of Christians”
— “A mob had on Friday burnt over 70 houses of Christians at Azafi Abadi over an alleged incident of desecration of the Quran. Muslims set on fire another 15 houses of Christians on Saturday.”
Initial Report – July 31, 2009 – from UCAN:
Pakistan – Report of Mob Burning Christian Homes for Alleged “Blasphemy”
Pakistan – Report of Mob Burning Christian Homes for Alleged “Blasphemy”
UCAN report: “Pakistan: Christians flee after Muslims destroy village”
— UCAN reports: “Smoke was still rising from the Christian village of Korian in Punjab province on July 31 after it was completely destroyed in a violent raid the previous night by thousands of Muslims.”
— “The village in Faisalabad diocese was attacked after Muslims accused a family there of blasphemy. In all, 60 houses and two churches belonging to the Church of Pakistan and the New Apostolic Church were destroyed and livestock stolen.”
— “Masih said the mob was armed with firearms and explosives. ‘They used trucks to break the walls and petrol to start the fires,” he said. “We saved our lives only by hiding in the fields until three in the morning, when relatives arrived with vehicles to collect us. The children cried all night,’ Masih said.”
— “Tension between the Christian and Muslim communities in the area arose after pages containing Islamic inscriptions were found in front of a Christian home on July 26 following a wedding.”
— “A group of Muslims then interrogated those who attended the wedding party, and accused the family of desecrating the Qur’an. ”
Pakistan – ANS report: “Pakistani Christian Blasphemy – Accused is Suffering from Heart Disease”
(Pakistan) ANS report: “Pakistani Christian Blasphemy – Accused is Suffering from Heart Disease”
— “Mushtaq and his friend Wallayat Masih were accused of blasphemy when they lay sheets inscribed with Quranic verses on the grave of a Christian man”
Pakistan: Christian families in Kasur hide from angry mobs – charges of Extremist “blasphemy”
Pakistan: Christian families in Kasur hide from angry mobs
— Pakistan Daily Times reports: “At least 110 Christian families, almost 700 people, were forced on Tuesday night to flee Bahmniwala, a village in Kasur, after angry mobs attacked and threatened to burn their houses for allegedly committing blasphemy”
— “The families sought safety in the fields surrounding their village, even as local mosques urged the Muslims to unite and ‘teach a lesson’ to the Christians, residents told Daily Times”
— “The Christians who returned to their homes found they had no electricity or drinking water the entire day”
—- Pakistan Daily Times follow-up report to:
—- Pakistan – ICC Report: “Muslim Mob Burns Down 100 Christian Homes in Pakistan”
Pakistan – ICC Report: “Muslim Mob Burns Down 100 Christian Homes in Pakistan”
(Pakistan) ICC Report: “Muslim Mob Burns Down 100 Christian Homes in Pakistan”
— ICC reports: “This morning 100 Christian houses and churches were set on fire by local Muslims in the city of Kasur South, east of Lahore, Pakistan”
— “The riots were incited by broadcasts from local mosques”
— “This incident is similar to a February 1997 attack when thousands of Christian houses and churches were burned and hundreds of Christians were injured”
— “So far 9 burned women and 4 children have been transferred to Lahore for further medical treatment”
— “All of them have been injured by throwing acid on them”
Pakistan Daily Times: Christian families in Kasur hide from angry mobs
— “At least 110 Christian families, almost 700 people, were forced on Tuesday night to flee Bahmniwala, a village in Kasur, after angry mobs attacked and threatened to burn their houses for allegedly committing blasphemy”
— “The families sought safety in the fields surrounding their village, even as local mosques urged the Muslims to unite and ‘teach a lesson’ to the Christians, residents told Daily Times”
— “The Christians who returned to their homes found they had no electricity or drinking water the entire day”
Pakistan: Extremist theaten woman with “blasphemy” charge
(Pakistan) Punjab’s Mustafabad: Islamic Radicals Storm ‘Blasphemy’ Hearing
— ‘Blasphemy’ case against Munir Masih and his wife Ruqiya Bibi
— “Radical Pakistani Muslims in a town outside of Lahore this month overran
a courtroom in hopes of swaying a judge in a ‘blasphemy’ case against a
Christian couple, and a member of the prosecution later threatened to kill the wife”
— “The couple had granted a Muslim neighbor’s request to store some of his
possessions in their home, including a Quran.”
— “The Islamic clergymen storming into the courtroom claimed that no non-Muslims had the right to keep a Quran in their home”
— “After the bail hearing, a member of the prosecution team approached Bibi while she was outside the courtroom waiting to testify and threatened to kill her. ‘Ruqiya was waiting outside the court for her turn,’ Gull said, ‘and one man came and said, ”Whatever the decision, we will kill you.””