Ten wounded: Attacks on Christians in Gujranwala
Photo Courtesy Dawn News.
Lahore, April 30(ANI): At least ten people, including police officials, were wounded in attacks on houses of Christian community members in Lahore on Saturday.
Demonstrators attacked the residences of members of the Christian religious community in Gujranwala, and also shattered the windows of a Christian school in the neighborhood.
The attackers accused certain members of the Christian community of committing blasphemy, the Dawn reports.
Police and authorities in the area arrested 25 people for their involvement in the disturbances. Three Christians, including a priest, are among those arrested by the police.
The police are now patrolling the area of the incident. However, most members of the Christian community have reportedly locked their residences and fled the area. (ANI)
Police foil attempt to burn church
by Babar Dogar
Police broke up a mob of people armed with sticks that was threatening to attack a church Saturday after word spread that two copies of the Quran had been burned in eastern Pakistan, officials said.The tiny Christian minority in predominantly Muslim Pakistan is often intimidated and subjected to mob violence. The crowds marching toward the church in the city of Gujranwala blamed Christians for the burning of the Qurans.
Police charged the crowd of 300 people marching toward the church, lightly injuring several protesters, said Saeed Wahla, the top administrator in the city. The protesters blocked a street with barricades of burning tires.
A burned Quran was found Saturday, and two weeks earlier several burned pages from the holy book turned up, said Nabil Awan, another local official.
Pakistan’s Christians, who make up 1.6 percent of the country’s population of 180 million, live in fear of being persecuted or arrested under the country’s harsh laws against blasphemy, which are often misused to settle personal scores or family feuds.The laws call for the death penalty for anyone insulting Islam, its holy book or the Prophet Muhammad[PBUH].
The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, a Christian group, condemned Saturday’s march and demanded the government hold an inquiry to find out who was responsible for organizing it. The group said such incidents are “just a conspiracy to destabilize the country.”
Addressing the purported desecration of Qurans, the group said in a statement, “All Christians respect all the prophets, holy books and scriptures.”“No one among (the) Christian community can even imagine committing such a heinous crime,” it said.
In neighboring Afghanistan, crowds outraged by the burning of a Quran at a Florida church protested for days and attacked a U.N. compound on April 1, killing three U.N. staff and four Nepalese guards.
Meanwhile, a roadside bomb hit a minibus in a northwestern tribal region Saturday, killing two passengers and wounding nine others, said local official Javed Khan. The attack happened on Ladda road in Pakistan’s Kurram tribal region.
Kurram lies near the Afghan border. Pakistan’s military has carried out several operations against Islamist militants hiding there after escaping last year’s army offensive in the nearby Orakzai tribal area.
The region has also been the scene of clashes between rival Sunni and Shiite communities for years.
After this horrific incident, I received a letter from Markaz Tehqiq Al-Haq and I want to share with readers here on Let Us Build Pakistan.
Dear friends, with deep sorrow and heavy heart I am informing you that this morning a mob attacked Christian population in Gujranwala, particularly, Aziz Colony.
All Community is under seige and cannot even get out of their houses. Police and civil authorities are trying to control the situation but it seams to be out of control. Christian community have been living under terror since April 15 when some pages of Holy Qur’an were found partly burned and allegedly a letter written in the language that was offensive to the prophet of Islam.
We have had sleepless nights and have worked tirelessly to control the situation but ultemately this has happened. Yesterday, there was a great danger of violence but it was lagely calm.
At the end of the day we thanked God for the seemingly calm situation. Today early in the morning there was again an incident of Holy Qur’an being found burned. Then mob gattered and attacked Christians.
Police used tear gas and short some ariel as there was intense firing from the mob. Lives and properties of thousands of Christians in Gujranwala are in grave danger. Seminary and other Christians institutions are also prime target. Please pray for us.
Regards
Maqsood Kamil
One more Christian arrested under Blasphemy in Gujranwala
http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/headlinenewsd.php?hnewsid=2749
its my heartly pray for my Christians Fellows… LORD JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR never leaves you alone… trust HIM….
Police break up Muslim mob threatening to burn church in eastern Pakistan, officials say
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gD7H4Oe1y5nY5Yphd2rTaBdWbeJg?docId=6714651
We Are Support & Promote to Mr Jinnah Secular Pakistan !
Release of alleged blasphemers sparks riots in Gujranwala
LAHORE:
Hundreds of people in Gujranwala, mostly residents of Azizabad Colony, on Saturday attacked a Christian seminary, a church as well as houses of Christians — including a pastor — after finding out that two Christians who had been accused of blasphemy have been released from protective custody by the police.
Father Mushtaq Gill Masih and his son Farrukh Gill Masih were taken into protective custody by the Gujranwala police on April 15, in an attempt to prevent another Gojra-like massacre, after the two were accused of desecrating a copy of the Holy Quran. Upon conducting an investigation, the police found the charges against the two men to be fabricated and have not registered a case against them.
The two men were accused of writing a blasphemous note, but a handwriting expert hired by the police determined that it was not written by them. Police are still trying to find the real author of the note.
The two men were released on Friday afternoon after the police felt that matters had calmed down. However, at 7:30 am on Saturday morning, as news of their release spread, Muslim residents began rioting and hurling rocks at the houses of Christians, including that of Pastor Eric Isaac, as well as a neighbourhood church and a Christian seminary.
A climate of fear seems to have overtaken the Christian community in Gujranwala. At least 3,000 Christian families are reported to have fled Azizabad Colony and its neighbourhoods. Most have fled to Sialkot and Lahore, fearing another incident like Gojra, when eight Christians were killed after another false blasphemy accusation.
The fear, however, is not limited to just the Christian residents. Even Muslims in Azizabad Colony have started putting up their names and religious affiliation on their doors to avoid having their houses stoned. Residents of Azizabad say that most of the protesters were not from the neighbourhood.
The protesters were armed with sticks and batons. A rally led by Qari Zahid Saleem, president of the Interfaith Harmony Committee of Gujranwala, later set fire to tires in front of the office of the regional police officer. Local leaders of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) and other religious groups also attended the rally.
Some of the protesters started pelting rocks at the police contingents who had arrived to control the situation. Police arrested around 100 of the protesters, though no cases have been registered against any of them. Law enforcement officials estimate that the total crowd was no more than 500 people.
Police were able to calm down the protesters by around 1 pm by assuring them that the real blasphemers would be caught within three days. Officials, however, have not stated as to whether or not they have any leads on the real suspects.
Matters seemed to have been calming down in the afternoon but erupted again late in the evening when some residents of Azizabad Colony claimed to have found burnt pages of the Holy Quran at the neighbourhood graveyard.
The head of the Gujranwala police, Ghulam Muhammad Doger, warned the protesters that he would not allow them to target and harass the Christian community of the city and would take strict action against the provocateurs of the riots. “You will only be able to attack Christians over our dead bodies,” he said to the rioters. The incident is the first where, despite having two people clearly accused of blasphemy, the police did not bow to intense pressure from religious and political parties.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 1st, 2011.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/160337/blasphemy-allegations-release-of-alleged-blasphemers-sparks-riots-in-gujranwala/
Pakistan: Hundreds of Muslims attack Christians; police arrest Christians for counter-protest
At least 20 people, including police officials, were wounded as 500Muslim demonstrators attacked the Christian community in Gujranwala city on April 29, Minorities Concern of Pakistan has learnt. The attackers, who accused certain members of the Christian community of committing blasphemy, entered a Christian missionary school and broke the furniture there and also attempted to attack a church in Gulzar Colony. Police broke up the mob of people armed with sticks tried to attack a local Church. Bruce Bhatti, a Christian social worker, told Minorities Concern of Pakistan that situation is very tense in the city and Christians are very scared.
Police arrested 25 people (3 Christians including a priest) for their involvement in the disturbances. Moreover, police are now patrolling the area. However, most members of the Christian community had reportedly locked their residences and fled the area. Around 2,500 Christians live in the area. Police initially registered a case against two Christians and arrested them.
On April 16, dozens of Christian families were forced to escape from a village Khokarki, near Gujranwala (in Punjab, 28 miles from Lahore), attacked by hundreds of Muslim militants. The police took into custody 12 Christians who had protested against attack.
Muslims are accusing three Christians, Rev. Eric Issac, Mushtaq Gill and his son Farrukh Mushtaq Gill, for blasphemy. Mushtaq Gill and his son Farrukh Mushtaq Gill both were detained on April 15, 2011 allegedly desecrating the Koran. Mushtaq Gill, 60, is the vice principal of a Christian Technical Training Centre (CTTC), which is a part of the theological seminary in Gujranwala.
http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=33&idsub=122&id=53103&t=Pakistan%3A+Hundreds+of+Muslims+attack+Christians%3B+police+arrest+Christians+for+counter-protest