MANY CHRISTIAN CHILDREN AND WOMAN BURNT TO DEATH IN PAKISTAN

Many Christians are reportedly burnt to death when a Muslim mob sets on fire dozens of Christian homes on Thursday night for harbouring a Christian boy whom they accused had torn down pages of Quran, the Muslim Holy Book.
“Muslim attackers set on fire about 40 Christian homes in Korian village, Toba Tek district in Punjab Province on Thursday night, many including Christian children and women are feared burnt to death,” Pakistan Christian Post reported.

Sources in Toba Tek district, which is also the district headquarter told Pakistan Christian Post (PCP) that on Sunday night Muslims were searching for one boy in a a large gathering of a Christian wedding ceremony; they accused that the boy accused had burnt down pages of the Koran (Quran) – the Holy Book of Muslims.

Though the Christian and Muslim elders in the village defused the tension on clarification of the Christian youth that he had not burnt pages of the Quran, the Muslim mob came back on Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. calling upon the Korian Muslims from Mosque’s loudspeakers asking them to gather and teach a lesson to “infidel Christians” who they said are protecting a boy accused of blasphemy on burning the holy pages of Quran.

The sources said the nearby villages also made same announcements from mosques and Muslims gathered before homes of Christians in large numbers.

Shouting “Allah Oh Akbar,” – Allah is great - “Kill infidels” and the Muslim mob started setting on fire homes of Christians. As it was night, the Christian children, women and men with fear locked their doors to hide inside and many are feared death inside their homes, sourced told PCP.

PCP said when news of attack on Christians came to the District Police Officer in Toba Tek, he ordered deployment of police and Fire Brigade but Muslim mob blocked roads by lying on road.

It is second incident of burning homes of Christian in Punjab province when Muslim mob on accusation of blasphemy attacked village Bahamin Wala in district Kasur on July 1, 2009;, at that time no lost of lives was reported unlike this time.

According to Pakistan electronic media, Chief Minister of Punjab has ordered District Police Officer of Toba Tek to reach to village Korian and take control of situation but still Faisalabad-Gojra Road is blocked by Muslim mob who are lying on road to block any help to reach village Korian where homes of Christians are burning.

The teams of Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), and Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan (SLMP), Christian advocacy groups have left Lahore for Toba Tek after call from Christians in Gojra who are also hiding in homes on fear of attack by Muslims, the report said.

CLAAS Director Joseph Francis and SLMP Chief Sohail Johnson told PCP that they are on the way to Gojra to reach Village Korian and it will take 4 hours because of bad weather.

PCP reported that there is widespread fear among Christians in Punjab province on their safety and security from an attacks of extremist Muslims and misuse of blasphemy laws.

PCP said the details are awaited of this barbaric incident of burning of children, women and men in homes by Muslims as the teams of SLMP and CLASS approach the scene of the incident. The two teams are expected to give more detail on the incident.

PAKISTAN: PASTORS ARRESTED FOR USE OF LOUD SPEAKERS,POLICE CLAIM AMPLIFIED EASTER SUNDAY SERVICE DEFAMED ISLAM

ISTANBUL– Nine pastors from two neighboring villages in Pakistan could face prison time for using loudspeakers to broadcast prayers and sermons from their churches on Easter Sunday.
Martinpur and Youngsnabad, 150 kilometers (93 miles) east of Lahore, are majority Christian villages. The nine pastors who lead congregations there say that local Muslim security forces have twisted the law to solicit a bribe.
Police arrested and detained Hafeez Gill, Fahim John, Maksud Ulkaq, and a catechist from the Catholic Church in Youngsnabad identified only as Saqab at 10 a.m. on May 16. While en route to the police station, the officers told them they would be released if they offered a bribe, according to the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS). The pastors refused and were detained, but following a public outcry from their parishioners they were released at 2:30 p.m.
Reports indicate the arrest was premeditated. A leader in the village council invited the pastors to his house for a meeting, but when they arrived in the morning local police were waiting for them.
They were taken to the police station, where Station House Officer Mirza Latif showed them two First Instance Reports (FIR) registered on May 11 claiming they had misused their speakers. The FIRs, however, state the pastors misused the speakers on Easter Sunday, which happened nearly a month earlier.
The FIRs accused the pastors of misusing their loudspeakers under Section 3/4 of the Amplifier Act. Their attorney said the reasons for their arrest were both religiously and financially motivated.
Police claimed that the church leaders had used their loudspeakers to amplify messages defaming Islam. The FIRs, however, make no mention of the content of their remarks.
“The police wanted to cause humiliation to the pastors and were also asking for money,” said CLAAS attorney Akhbar Durrani.
The case was registered by a special branch of local police forces charging the four Youngsnabad pastors. On the same day, they filed charges against the five pastors in Martinpur: Shahazad Kamarul-Zaman, Mumbarab Kuhram, Hanuk Daniel, Amar Sohail, and a fifth pastor unnamed in the police report.
Nasir Bahatti, president of the Youth Welfare Association in Youngsnabad, a Christian social organization, said the church had permission to amplify the service and that the arrests were religiously motivated.
“There is no reason to ban the loudspeaker,” he said. “They are banning our worship and prayer. But we have permission [to use them] on particular days such as Christmas and Easter.”
If the FIRs are not withdrawn, the pastors will go to court over the alleged loudspeaker violation. Police released them from jail on May 16 under the condition that they obtain bail at an upcoming hearing.
The church loudspeakers broadcasted the church prayers and sermon for villagers unable to attend the service, as is custom in some Christian villages. Pakistani law limits the use of loudspeakers in Christian worship services to a specific time allotment (and usually to villages and towns with a small Muslim population), but these restrictions were not enforced in the almost-entirely Christian villages of Youngsnabad and Martinpur.
Few such restrictions, however, are placed on Pakistani mosques. The five daily calls to prayer, Friday sermons, and Quran recitations on Islamic holidays are frequently amplified on loudspeakers. The double standard follows a traditional Islamic dictum in which church bells were not allowed to ring in areas under Islamic rule.
“The Muslims in this nation can worship according to their prayer method, so why can’t we if we are all given equal rights?” Bahatti said.
The standard of living is relatively high in these villages due to a well-educated population. There are longstanding missionary schools in the villages, and much of the population has lived abroad. English missionaries founded Youngsnabad and Martinpur 120 years ago during British colonial occupation.
Some rights groups worry that the harassment of Pakistani Christians in villages such as Martinpur and Youngsnabad could mean deteriorating conditions for religious minorities in areas once considered secure.
CLAAS reported that vandals completely ransacked a church in Bannu Cantt, in the North West Frontier Province, on May 12. They destroyed the altar, burned Bibles, and broke pews. Although the city is located in a province that borders Afghanistan, where Taliban rebels have been active, it was thought to be a relatively secure area, according to the report.
Pakistan remains in turmoil as the military moves into Swat Valley to uproot the Taliban, which has established Islamic law (sharia) in the embattled area. An estimated 2 million Pakistanis have become refugees by fleeing the area after a government evacuation order.

PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN GIRL RAPED AND MURDERED

A nine-year-old Christian girl in Pakistan was reportedly gang-raped before being killed and dumped in a canal. And outrage is growing amid reports that almost a month later no arrest has been made.

Nisha Javid was walking close to her home when she suddenly disappeared, prompting her parents to mount a search for her.
Barely two days later, with a police-led search underway, her body was found in a canal not far from the Javids’ home in Essangri village, outside the town of Jaranawala, Faisalabad.
A post mortem revealed Nisha had been gang-raped and had died after repeated blows to the head.
More than three weeks later, police have been accused of inaction and refusing to follow up allegedly compelling evidence identifying the guilty party.
Fr. Yaqub Masih, parish priest of Jaranwala, said, “People here are very sad – especially the family.”
He explained that Nisha’s mother is “ill with grief” and that her father is unable to work and is devoting every hour to win justice for his daughter’s death, working with police and lawyers.
Masih underlined the impact of the attacks on other Christians.
"If nothing is done about this, where can our children go to feel safe? Everyone feels very insecure and very afraid," he said.
The crime took place on April 9 – Maundy Thursday in Holy Week – and Christians believe the attack was intended as an insult to their faith.
"Our people are very poor and they have no status in society," said Masih. "What can they do to protect themselves?"
He reported that the police have been publicly accused of corruption and failing to intensify their inquiries.
"The police action has been very slow," he noted. "And that has made the people here feel even more powerless."
His comments come amid an upsurge of anti-Christian violence and intimidation in Pakistan.
Nisha’s death follows a narrowly-averted attack on Christians in Jaranawala, prompted by accusations that a man had allegedly damaged a banner containing words from the Koran, thereby breaking Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws.
Also this month in the southern city of Karachi, four people, including an 11-year-old boy, were injured in attacks on Christians that took place on April 22.