Pakistan – Page 6 – Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)

Pakistan Christians Threatened After Marriage Between Christian Man and Muslim Woman

In the Punjab village near Khanewal, minority Pakistan Christians are being persecuted over the marriage between a Christian man and Muslim woman in the village in October 2014. According to a report by Christians in Pakistan (CIP), minority Christians have been forced to flee their home due to threats. CIP reports that “since the secret of this marriage was revealed the couple no longer lives in the village and have fled” and that extremists opposed to the Muslim woman’s marriage to the Christian man, attacked the husband’s family’s home as well as the homes of other Christians in the area. CIP reports that there have been death threats against the village Christians. CIP also reports that “Seeing the gravity of the incident, the Christians are pleading for protection from the local police, but so far police has provided no protection or assistance to them. A Police official, from the Shahkot police said, ‘We have not arrested anyone yet due to the sensitive nature of this case. We will not take any further steps before undergoing a thorough investigation.’ ”

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) calls for the rule of law and end to such mob terrorist behavior against Pakistan Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan. R.E.A.L. supports our Universal Human Rights for all people, including the freedom of religion, equality, security, and dignity, as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),

Pakistan is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)ratified as of June 23, 2010, as well as a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Religious oppression of minorities in Pakistan is in direct contradiction to its international agreement of ICCPR Article 18, which includes “1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.”

We urge all – in Pakistan and around the world – to be responsible for equality and liberty.

Pakistan: Calls for Asia Bibi Pardon and Release to France

Around the world, calls continue for the freedom of oppressed Pakistan Christian Asia Bibi, convicted of “blasphemy” in a Pakistan court in November 2010. On October 25, 2014, hundreds of protesters met outside the UK Pakistan High Commission, calling for freedom for Asia Bibi, a mother of five children – after she was refused her appeal for freedom at Lahore High Court.

In November, the Rakyat Post provided the following report on new calls for a pardon for Asia Bibi by Asia Bibi’s husband:

Bibi-Pardon-Calls — Ashiq Masih the husband of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian mother sentenced to death in under blasphemy laws, sitting with daughters Esham (right) and Esha at their residence in Lahore. (Source: AFP)

“The husband of a Pakistani Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy four years ago has written to the president to ask for her to be pardoned and allowed to move to France.
Asia Bibi has been on death row since November 2010 after she was found guilty of making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed during an argument with a Muslim woman.
A high court in the eastern city of Lahore confirmed the death sentence last month, dashing hopes it might be commuted to a jail term.
“We are convinced that Asia will only be saved from being hanged if the venerable President (Mamnoon) Hussain grants her a pardon. No one should be killed for drinking a glass of water,” husband Ashiq Masih wrote in an open letter dated Nov 17 and published by the New York Times.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has said the couple are welcomed in the city, and Masih quoted his wife as saying she sent her “deepest thanks to you Madame Mayor, and to all the kind people of Paris and across the world”.
Masih added his wife was not guilty of blasphemy.
The plea for being allowed to move to Paris comes days after the Hidalgo requested Hussain to grant her a pardon.
Senior opposition leader Bruno Retailleau on Wednesday asked French President Francois Hollande to intervene in the case.
Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in the majority Muslim country, with even unproven allegations often prompting mob violence.
Masih, 50, lives in hiding with two of his five children and has to keep his identity secret as he scrapes together a living as a daily labourer.
He visits his wife once a month, making a five and a half hour journey to her jail in Multan in southern Punjab.
The allegations against Bibi date back to June 2009, when she was labouring in a field and a row broke out with some Muslim women she was working with.
She was asked to fetch water, but the Muslim women objected, saying that as a non-Muslim she was unfit to touch the water bowl.
A few days later the women went to a local religious leader and put forward the blasphemy allegations.
Amnesty International has raised “serious concerns” about the fairness of her trial and has called for her release.
Pakistan has never executed anyone for blasphemy and has had a de-facto moratorium on civilian executions since 2008.
But anyone convicted, or even just accused, of insulting Islam, risks a violent and bloody death at the hands of vigilantes.”

Pakistan: Mob of 1,200 Publicly Murders, Burns Christian Couple – for Blasphemy

A crowd of 1,200 in Pakistan burned a Christian couple alive, based on false claims of “blasphemy.” The Christian couple, Sajjad Maseeh, 27, and his wife Shama Bibi, 24, were murdered by the crowd as it chanted religious slogans from the Qur’an, their legs broken, and their bodies publicly burned in a kiln. Shama Bibi was four months pregnant, and since her body would not burn properly, it was wrapped in cloth, so the murderous mob could more readily burn her body.

NBC News reported that the Christian couple “set upon by at least 1,200 people after rumors circulated that they had burned verses from the Qur’an, family spokesman Javed Maseeh.” The Daily Mail further reported that their four-year old daughter Sonia Rami and her 18 month old baby sister Ponam were forced to witness the public torture and murder of her parents, and watch her mother’s body “twitch” while being publicly burned. The crowd then tried to burn the four-year old child.

The Daily Mail reported: “Chanting ‘God is great’, huge numbers gathered to watch the sickening murder, which took place in Chak 59 – a village situated in Kasur district, 60 kilometers from Pakistan’s second largest city Lahore.”

Their 11-year old cousin Muhammad Faryad reported the public atrocity: “I saw a young man with small beard who was wearing white clothes and a white cap and other man wearing blue clothes. They were both leading the assault. The man in white hit her belly with his axe. There was blood. People were very angry; they were shouting that they would teach lesson to the blasphemer Christians. The majority of them were young people carrying spades, hatchets and clubs in their hand.”

Sharma’s sister Yasmeen told World Watch Monitor that due to a bonded loan, the kiln owner, would not let the couple leave the area. The sister also reported that there was Shama Bibi and Sajjad Maseeh, had not burned the Qur’an, but that was what the crowd believed when they saw the Shama Bibi throw out some amulets that her late husband’s father had. She stated that some believed there were parts of a burned Qur’an in the amulets thrown out and this was what started the accusations against the couple.

Yasmeen told World Watch Monitor that originally there was just a small crowd, but then “she could hear announcements being made from mosque loudspeakers in nearby villages – that a Christian woman had desecrated the Qur’an.” The report stated that “Yasmeen said people from five surrounding villages – Chak 60, Rosey, Pailan, Nawan Pindi and Hatnian – were gathered together by the residents of Chak 59 and their brick kiln coworkers.”

“They beat them with wooden clubs on their heads, and hatchets, before they were both tied to a tractor and pulled out onto a road which was under construction, covered with crushed stones. They took some petrol from a tractor and doused their bodies and threw them in the kiln. Then I lost hope and fled with my children from there.”

Yasmeen said “says that during the entire violent attack, a police van was present, but because they were so few, the police did not take charge.” But the police were armed with weapons and the mob was not.

The rest of the police arrived after the couple was killed.

Shahzad-Masih-and-Shama-Bibi — Shama Bibi and Sajjad Maseeh were killed by a mob in Kot Radha Kishan, Pakistan.

Update: Christianity Today reports that “After a fact-finding trip, the Church of Pakistan claims that “revenge for unpaid bills” was the real reason a Christian couple fell afoul of blasphemy rumors that led to a mob burning them to death.”

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) points to this atrocity as one in many such crimes against our fellow human beings, which begins with religious intolerance and the view that violence is an acceptable approach for those who view that they are religiously offended. Free nations must reject such views and such oppression of all people, especially religious minorities targeted by such violence and hatred.

Pakistan: Christian Sisters in Hiding After Kidnap and Forced Religious Conversion Attempts

Responsible for Equality and Liberty has received a report of the human rights violations of two women in Lahore, Pakistan. International human rights sources have advised that Christian sisters, “Hina” and “Marina” from Lahore have gone into hiding, after attempts by extremist to kidnap them, to force marriage on them, and to forcefully convert them to deny their Christian religion.

The sources state that Hina and Marina are from Lahore city near the Nishter police station area. The reports state that Hina and Marina have been followed and harassed by extremists, including one individual with a “green turban.” The reports state that extremists have sought to abduct the two sisters, force the sisters into marriage, and to force the sisters to reject their Christian religion and convert them to Islam. The reports state that according to police sources, Mulan’a Abdul Attiq took his son and nephew Hafiz Nasir and Abid Attri to arrange a forced wedding to both Christian sisters. The forced wedding attempts have been rejected by the Christian sisters and their families.

As a result of the sisters rejecting such attempts at forced marriage and forced religious conversion, reports indicate that the Punjab police in Lahore have stated that those two sisters and family have committed blasphemy when Muslim clerics sought to talk about the wedding attempts. The report states that police have filed FIR (under Pakistan law 295-C) against the family.

In accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Responsible for Equality And Liberty continues to support the universal human rights, religious liberty, and freedom for all people, including religious minorities oppressed in Pakistan. We urge the Pakistan authorities to drop any charges against minority Christians being oppressed, harassed, and threatened, including these two Christian sisters, who have reportedly been threatened by attempts at abduction, forced marriage, and forced religious conversion. Responsible for Equality And Liberty also calls for the Pakistan government to end the oppressive blasphemy law used to oppress and harass religious minorities and so many other individuals. Responsible for Equality And Liberty also calls upon on our colleagues in human rights organizations to share this story and call for human rights protection for these sisters.

Pakistan: Six guilty of Pakistan Kohistan ‘honour killings’

BBC reports: “A court in the remote northern Pakistan region of Kohistan has sentenced a man to death for the murder of three brothers in a so-called honour killing. Five others were sentenced to life imprisonment. The killings took place early last year after a mobile phone video surfaced which showed a group of women and men dancing and chatting at a wedding. The men killed were brothers of the men in the video, and those convicted were relatives of the women. The women are also thought to have been killed. “

Pakistani government shows no sign of taking action over the Federal Shariah Court’s blasphemy law ruling

Pakistani government shows no sign of taking action over the Federal Shariah Court’s blasphemy law ruling – the Pakistan Christian Post reports that “Last month the Federal Shariah Court (FSC) of Pakistan ordered that the death penalty be the only punishment for a blasphemer, and that life imprisonment be removed as an option.” Report continued at Pakistan Christian Post.

Pakistan: Ahmadiyya Minority Muslim Charged with Blasphemy

Pakistan: once again Ahmadiyya Minority Muslims are being oppressed by religious extremists who reject their religious freedom rights. In this case, an elderly British Ahmadiyya Muslim man, Masud Ahmad, is being oppressed and was arrested using the broad and oppressive blasphemy laws, used by extremists to reject freedom and target individuals. Responsible for Equality And Liberty calls for the Pakistan courts to drop all charges against Masud Ahmad, and to end the oppressive use of blasphemy laws in Pakistan. See reports by the Daily Mail and by the Independent.

The Daily Mail reports: “An elderly British man faces up to three years in a Pakistani prison after he was tricked into reading the Koran in public. Masud Ahmad, 72, belongs to the minority Ahmadiyya sect, who under Pakistani law are banned from calling themselves Muslim, with Amnesty International saying he was deliberately tricked into reading the holy book in Lahore by figures linked to a right-wing religious group… it is believed Mr Ahmad was secretly filmed reading from the Koran in November last year by two men posing as patients at the homeopathy clinic he ran in Lahore. Amnesty International say he was maliciously targeted because of his religion. Every year dozens of Ahmadi Muslims are charged with breaching Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws simply for practicing Islam, while they and other minority groups are also at risk of sectarian violence. Speaking to The Independent, Mr Ahmad’s son Abbas, 39, said: ‘We are concerned he will never see his nine grandchildren but we are concerned with his life. We know what happens [in] these sort of cases.’ Abbas Ahmad said his father had been released on bail ahead of a trial and is currently in secure accommodation.”

Pakistan: Freedom Called for Muhammad Asghar Charged with Blasphemy

Pakistan man has been arrested and charged with blasphemy in Rawalpindi, with calls by human rights groups for his release. British man Muhammad Asghar has been arrested for confused letters that he has written about himself, as reported by CNN. Responsible for Equality And Liberty calls for the Pakistan authorities to show mercy and dignity to understand that there will always be confused individuals, and that their human rights also require respect under our Universal Declaration of Human Rights. An online petition calls for his release.

CNN reports: “Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) — The family of a mentally ill British man sentenced to death in Pakistan for blasphemy is calling on authorities to release him. A court in the city of Rawalpindi last week handed down the punishment to Muhammad Asghar, 69, over charges alleging that he wrote letters claiming to be a prophet. But his family, his lawyer and a British legal aid group say the court failed to take into account the mental state of Asghar, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The sentencing hearing took place last week behind closed doors without his legal team’s knowledge, they say, and his lawyer has been blocked from visiting him since.”

Pakistan: Sikh Murdered by Extremists

Sikh member Sardar Bagwan Singh murdered by extremist factions in Pakistan, as reported by the Pakistan Christian Post

“Charsada; January 24, 2014. (PCP) A Sikh community member resident of Dabgari was gunned down in Tangi Bazar, Charsada, in broad day light in KPK province of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan, on evening of January 22, 2014, by extremists. Sardar Bagwan Singh who was Hakeem by profession and practicing medicine over decades in Charsada district became victim of target killers when he was coming home at 4; 00 PM. Sardar Bagwan Singh left behind mourning wife, three daughters and three sons. Hundreds of Sikh community members living in tribal belt of Pakistan migrated to India

after year 2009 when Talaban took control of FATA and impose extremist taxation on them.”

Choose Love, Not Hate – Embrace Dignity, End Violence – in Pakistan and Worldwide

My brothers and sisters in humanity were shamed once again as repeated attacks took place in Pakistan over this past week. When we stand for human rights and human dignity, we must never defend human rights and dignity with human wrongs. However, extremists continue to commit such human wrongs over the calls for dignity, rights, and peace by others. It is the shared role of Christians, Muslims, people of all faiths, and all of our brothers and sisters, to stand together in unity to Choose Love, Not Hate – Embrace Dignity, End Violence.

As Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) posted this week, there has been a renewed efforts by American anti-Islam extremists who seek to continue to cause agitation, we also have been informed of violence again in Pakistan targeting Pakistan Christians as a result of the anti-Islam extremist film “Innocence of the Muslims.”

On September 28 in Pakistan, Pakistan DAWN reported solidarity between Pakistan Christians and Muslims in support of human rights and dignity. DAWN reported Pakistan Christians fasting in solidarity with Muslims condemning the anti-Islam film by anti-Islam extremist Nakoula Basseley Nakoula (aka Mark Basseley Youssef). DAWN reported: “Chairman Khyber Agency Christian Community Arshad Masih told Dawn that some two hundred families living in Landi Kotal and Jamrud observed the fasting on Friday and kept themselves refrained from all types of eating and drinking. Arshad Masih said that Christian community throughout Pakistan was fully behind Muslims and understood the pain and agony they were passing through after the making of sacrilege film by a lunatic.”

Pakistan Christians were also struggling with the consequences of mob attacks incited by the anti-Islam film:

— On Thursday, September 27, a protestant bishop was attacked in Lahore. Italian news reported that “protestant bishop Naeem Samuel of the Trinity Evangelical Church Prayer, was attacked yesterday as he was leaving church in Youhanaabad, a suburb of Lahore (Punjab province), where about 10,000 Christian families live.”

— On September 21, in Mardan, St. Paul’s Sarhadi Lutheran Church was attacked and fire-bombed by a mob angry about the anti-Islam film. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari declared the actions “un-Islamic and condemnable act.” Canadian press reported that “According to reports from Christians in Mardan, the mob attacked and set on fire the church, St Paul’s high school, a library, a computer laboratory and houses of four clergymen, including Bishop Peter Majeed. The mob also damaged and torched movable property, including a car and three motorcycles. Zeeshan Chand, the 17-year-old son of a pastor, was beaten by the mob and had to be hospitalized in Mardan.” Another report states that highly flammable chemical bombs were thrown at the church. Dawn also reported that “They ransacked furniture and equipment in the offices of mobile phone companies, a courier firm and the Mardan postgraduate college.” DAWN reported that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti Rs30 million for the church’s repair/reconstruction.

st-pauls-attacked — St Paul's Sarhadi Lutheran Church in Mardan - after Mob's Firebomb Attack

I am asking my friends to see if there are any charities that we can donations to help rebuild the lives of the Christians in the recent mob attacks. I will update this report as I get further information.

The cycle of violence and hate, hate and violence must end. We must do everything we can do to stop it.

Let us all support the end of violence and hate in Pakistan, in America, and everywhere in the world.

Our goal as brothers and sisters in humanity must be to reject these continuing acts of violence against any of fellow human beings of any faith. I urge my Muslim brothers and sisters to publicly continue to voice their condemnation of this. I urge my Christian brothers and sisters to also publicly continue to voice their condemnation of the attacks on religious dignity and respect toward the Islamic faith.

We can and we will have different views in our lives. But we must share the common bonds of human rights, human dignity, human safety, and human life to live in a cohesive society.

Choose Love, Not Hate – Embrace Dignity, End Violence