Religious minorities in Pakistan, are facing an increase in persecution at the hands of Takfiri Deobandi militants of Sipah-e-Sahaba (ASWJ-LeJ) Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its other affiliate groups who believe the country is only made for Muslims and all other religious and sectarian minorities are Kafirs and wajabul qatal.

Various media reports suggest that Pakistan Muslim League (N)nourishes the banned outfits in Punjab and recently in Punjab Budget 2013-14 it includes millions for Jamaat-ud-Dawa. Malik Ishaq self confessed killers of shias enjoyed Punjab government’s financial assistance and in election 2013 Lashkar-e-Jhangvi terrorists contested on PML-N tickets.

Christian leaders already expressed their concerns over the anti-minorities nature of the present government and that Pakistani Christians are in great fear to face more violence and torture during the present government of PML-N. They are afraid that during the PML-N rule, Pakistani Christians will face more violence as they have faced similar situation in the past during PML-N government. Gojra, Korian and Joseph Colony incidents were being planned by the banned militant groups and supported by PML-N leadership.

IN PML-N’s previous government Lahore Massacre occurred on May 28, 2010, in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, during Friday prayers. 94 people were killed and more than 120 were injured in nearly simultaneous attacks against two mosques of the minority Ahmadiyya Community. The TTP, as well as their Punjab wing, claimed responsibility for the attacks and were also blamed by the Punjab Police.

PMLN and Sipah Sahaba (ASWJ) enable minority persecution: Some of the media reports stating Al-Qaeda linked Sipah Sahaba ASWJ behind Gojra massacre are listed below. PMLN has formed a political alliance with Sipah Sahaba ASWJ and probably that explains why there has been no action despite a trend of violence by them against minorities. Furthermore, Joseph Colony incident was backed by PML-N leaders Malik Riaz, Chaudhry Shehbaz, Dr. Asad Ashraf, Ghazali Saleem Butt and Mushtaq Mughal and it was reported to the police as well. But unfortunately, PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif have not taken any notice against them and the same leaders are in the ruling elite and will create more problems for Christians especially in Punjab.

Punjab where PML-N’s government is in place has seen yesterday two incidents of persecution against Christian and Ahmadi community and the perpetrators of these acts were still not brought to justice.

In Lahore, Christian women were attacked and paraded naked by a mob with the support of the ruling party. The revelation was made by a press release issued by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).

According to the Daily Times, three Christian women, Arshad Bibi, Sajida Bibi and Sauriya Bibi, the daughter-in-laws of Sadiq Masih, were brutally beaten and then paraded naked by armed men hired by Muhammad Munir, the son of Abdul Rasheed, a landlord who has the support of the ruling party, the PML-N.

The following is the full text of the report:

LAHORE: Christian women were attacked and paraded naked by a mob with the support of the ruling party, said a press released issued by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).

Three Christian women – Arshad Bibi, Sajida Bibi and Sauriya Bibi – the daughter-in-laws of Sadiq Masih, a resident of Sereser Chak No 21, Kasur, were brutally beaten and then paraded naked by armed men employed by Muhammad Munir, the son of Abdul Rasheed, a landlord who has the support of the ruling party, the PML-N. The incident occurred on the night of June 3 when the male members of the family were attending to their jobs. The attackers, armed with weapons and batons, were able to enter the house by scaling the boundary wall and unlocking the gate from the inside. At that time, the women were sleeping in the house along with their father-in-law Sadiq Masih, 73, and mother-in-law Rani Bibi, 70.

The mob, lead by Muhammad Munir, Abrahim, Muhammad Rafique and their sons Ahmed, Asif, Abid, Wassem, Waqas and Shabir and three unidentified persons, entered the house. When the attackers invaded the house, they started looking for the sons of Sadiq Masih, checking all the rooms and throwing their belongings about. When they could not find his sons, they started beating the three women.

The party workers then took the three Christian women out into the street where the lights were on and tore their clothes off.

Then they started shouting to attract the attention of the people nearby, to let them see the extent of the revenge and the power of the landlord. Nobody dared to stop them as the attackers were holding weapons. Due to the victim’s screaming and shouting, some elderly people of the village came out and put their turbans on the feet of the attackers as a sign of high respect and honour. After this, the attackers released the women but threatened the villagers that if they complained about the incident they would face more trouble.

While this was going on, somebody called in the police, and after much time the officers arrived. Instead of taking action against the attackers, the police tried to calm down the mob, which was protesting against the incident.

The cause of the incident was apparently that on two occasions some goats belonging to the Christians had entered the fields of the landlord, Munir, who claimed that they had damaged his crops. As the goats belonged to the Christians, Munir confiscated them.

On the morning of the incident, Shaukat, the son of Sadiq Masih, approached Munir in the company of his sisters-in-law and requested him to release their goats. Munir refused to do so and stared beating him. Munir slapped him many times and cursed him. When Shoukat, in retaliation, slapped him back, Munir became furious and threatened him. It was this incident that lead to the revenge attack. At this time, they also injured Sadiq Masih, who received several injuries to his leg.

On June 4, Advocate Sardar Mushtaq Gill, National Director at LEAD (Legal Evangelical Association Development) was informed by Rev Saleem Gill to give legal aid and assistance to the harassed family. Advocate Gill visited the victims and collected the details of the case and approached the Pattoki deputy superintendent of police (DSP) for the registration of a case. Consequently, an FIR was registered against the landlord and his henchmen under numbers 231/13 of Section 452, 354, 337/FI, 149,148 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The victims received a certificate from the Punjab Health Department mentioning the injuries that they suffered, but the police did not take action against the perpetrators, either for the humiliation of parading the women naked or the violence perpetrated on them.

Instead, the police quickly filed a case against the Christians under FIR 234/13 under sections 440, 379, 148 and 149 of the PPC on behalf of the landlord. This came as no surprise to the victims as it is a common practice of the local Muslims to create pressure on the Christian community to withdraw FIRs. One member of the National Assembly, Rana Ishaq, from the ruling party, the PML-N, is forcing the police not to act against the perpetrators, as they are also supporters of the ruling party.

Source: Daily Times

Meanwhile, an Ahmadi man was also killed because of his faith:

LAHORE: A member of the Jamaat-i-Ahmadia was shot dead in Green Town, allegedly because of his faith.
Four armed teenagers entered Jawad Karim’s house on Monday and shot him dead. They then walked away from the scene, said Imtiaz Adnan, Karim’s brother and a witness to the incident.

Adnan told The Express Tribune that four people armed with pistols had entered their house. One chased Karim to the first storey of the house and shot him in the chest. Adnan said he heard his brother cry out and reached the spot. He said he saw the assailant fleeing. He also saw three of his accomplices standing downstairs. They all simply walked away after killing Karim, said Adnan.

He alleged that Karim, 32, had been killed because of his religion. Local clerics had created a hostile environment for them, he said. Karim had also received several death threats, he said.

Green Town Station House Officer Sheikh Hammad told The Express Tribune that there may have been several motives for Karim’s murder. He said they had registered an FIR against unidentified suspects and started an investigation. He said Karim’s family had gone to Rabwa (Chenab Nagar) to bury him. Therefore they could not help the police trace the killers, he said. A formal investigation would be initiated once they returned, said Hammad.

The SHO said there could be several motives behind the murder, but he did not believe religion was one of them. If Karim was killed for being an Ahmadi, the killers would also have shot Adnan as he was there at the scene when Karim was shot, he said.

If the killers were religious extremists, they would have targetted Karim in a public area to create terror-not his house, said the SHO. Hammad suggested that the murder was likely motivated by a personal enmity, even though the family had said that Karim had no known enemies.

Karim is survived by his parents, a wife and two children. He ran a small clinic, Hussain Clinic, in the area. His wife, a doctor, looked after the clinic.

Jamaat-i-Ahmadia Pakistan spokesperson Saleemudin said Karim had been targetted because of his faith. He condemned the incident and said it had occurred as part of an on-going campaign against Ahmadis in Lahore. False FIRs were registered against Ahmadis, he said, and they were being targetted mercilessly. He said that the government had failed to protect the minorities and controlling the hate-campaign against Ahmadis.

Saleemudin said fatwas were regularly issued against Ahmadis in public meetings. Banners and stickers that incited hatred against Ahmadis were openly distributed and displayed. He appealed to the government to protect their lives and liberty.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2013.

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