71 year old Swedish missionary martyred

A Swedish missionary, 71 year old Birgitta Almeby has died in Sweden where she was undergoing medical treatment for gunshot wounds sustained when she was shot outside her house in Lahore last week.

Almeby had lived and worked in Pakistan for 40 years, serving it's people with the love of Christ, working in health care and education for the betterment of the people she loved.  For this, apparently, this 71 year old was brutally gunned down.

The pensioner was deliberately targeted.  The church and it's leaders had been receiving death threats.  Two unknown men had approached the security guard at her residence and asked questions about this lady - who managed three orphanages and taught at a bible school, and managed the Full Gospel Assemblies group there.

The police claimed to be investigating 'all angles', which involved arresting her cook who is inside the house as she was attacked.  This was despite the eyewitness accounts that she was shot by two men on a motorbike.

Source 1 2 3 and 4

Private school ransacked over test blasphemy claims

Farooqi Girls School, Lahore, ablaze after attack over 'blasphemy' in test paper. Source

On 30th October, a mob including some students parents and religious extremist groups attacked one of Lahore's leading Schools, the Farooqi Girls School on Ravi Road.  The reason?  Alleged blasphemy in a test paper on 'The Holy Quran' set by a female teacher at the school.  It is unclear exactly what is alleged to have been done.  Some say the whole thing was made up by religious extremists to stir an incident and disrupt the school due to it's successful record teaching girls, others claim the teacher made an error because she was copying from a text with a torn page, or that in copying from the text she accidentally copied from the end of the next chapter about street beggars.

Christian beaten by Muslim policeman for using same glass as them

We reprint this story verbatim from this source

LAHORE: A Christian worker at a veterinary dispensary building shared by a police post has accused two police officials of beating and humiliating him for drinking water from a glass used by the policemen.

Nisar Masih, assistant at the Veterinary Dispensary at Jandiala in the Narang Mandi police area, told The Express Tribune that he had filed an application on August 4 to the Sheikhupura regional police officer (RPO) against ASI Rana Raees Ahmed, the police post in charge and constable Muhammad Sarfaraz for beating him up for drinking water from a glass he found in front of the former’s office.
According to the complaint, Sarfaraz took Nisar Masih to the office of Ahmed on seeing him drink water from the office cooler. Ahmed asked Nisar Masih about his religion.

When he responded that he was a Christian, Ahmed remarked, “How dare you drink from a Muslim’s glass?” Ahmed then asked Nisar Misih to sit. When he sat in a chair, Ahmed admonished him, “How dare you sit on a chair? Sit on the ground.” Masih said Ahmed also abused and beat him. His ordeal only ended when dispensary incharge Dr Mohsin Farooq Hashmi and two other colleagues pleaded with Ahmed to secure his release. Nisar Masih said, “I approached former MPA Chaudhry Wajid Ali on July 29 to request action against the police officials. He informed the concerned DSP and also forwarded a written complaint.” He said he had stopped going to work since the incident fearing another beating.

ASI Ahmed told The Tribune he had had no objection to Nisar Maseeh sharing their glass when he did not know he was a Christian. “On July 28, there was a complaint and I called him to my office and asked him about his religion. He said he was a Christian, I asked, ‘How come he drinks from a glass used by Muslims?… Christians can’t use utensils used by Muslims.”
He denied that he had abused or beaten Nisar Maseeh. Instead, he said he had complained against him to Dr Hashmi. Ahmed said, “Dr Hashmi said he had no objection to sharing utensils with Christians… I told him to not let him drink water from our glass.” He said I have given the glass to Nisar Maseeh and asked him not to use the new glass.

Chaudhry Wajid Ali said he believed that Maseeh had been humiliated and beaten on account of his religious beliefs. He said the DSP had not responded to his complaint.

Speaking to The Tribune on August 9, DSP Ahsan Ilahi Khokhar said he was posted to the Muridke police circle recently and had not been told of the incident. “We will take action according to law if an excess is made out,” said Khokhar.

However, DSP Khokhar on August 31 denied either being aware of the incident or receiving any application of about the incident.
RPO Zulfiqar Cheema also said he did not remember any such application but he would pursue the matter and would bring the delinquent police officials to book. Chaudhry Wajid said he had given the application to DSP Khokhar and RPO Cheema and that they were deliberately lying.

Pakistan Ulema Council chief Tahir Ashrafi said such an act by a police official was condemnable. He said there was no religious restriction on Muslim to use utensils used by non-Muslims, including Christians. He said if the ASI in question did not like drinking water from a glass used by a Christian, he should have washed it. “However, there is no need to wash it either,” Ashrafi said.

Christian girl tortured by Muslim master

Sumbal Masih - photo World Vision in Progress

On 14th September, this girl, Sumbal Masih, aged 15 or 16, was working as a maid in the house of one Mr Adeel in Lahore, along with her younger sister Sadaf and cousin Rabiya.  She was watching the TV in the house when Mr Adeel came and beat her with iron rods or pipes, and then took her to the washroom (toilet?) and tortured her terribly.  Her sister, cousin and other servants heard her desperate cries and rushed to try and help but were prevented by Mr Adeel sent them away.  After this the cousin rushed to get Sumbal's parents,  and when they arrived outside along with human rights workers, Mr Adeel and his family claimed that Sumbal had 'run away from the house'.  They also refused to let the younger daughter go to her family.  After two hours the Adeel's allowed the girl's mother in the house.  After the police were called, Mr Adeel let the mother and Sadaf go, but kept making excuses about Sumbal.  The Human Rights group 'World Vision in Progress' has filed a rescue petition for the rescue of minor Sumbal at a Lahore court.

Wilson Chowdhry of the BPCA said :
Yet again we have violence against a teenage Christian maid.  The fact that the family are refusing her mother access is very disturbing.  What are they covering up?  Is it the fact that the girl was murdered, as in a recent case where a senior lawyer in the same city tortured to death a young Christian girl servant?  Is it to try and concoct a story about her condition, or has she been raped and forced to marry and convert as so many young Christian girls are?  Whatever the situation, it can't be good, and we call upon the police and courts to act speedily and thoroughly and without regard to threats or the faith of the perpetrator.  

Source

Police collude with extremists in Lahore, target Christians

We have received a report by the Rev Dr Jamil Nasir, pastor of the Church of Pentecost in Lahore, which we copy verbatim with a few explanations in bold brackets.  It gives a vivid picture of the kind of persecution, intimidation, murder, police connivance and fear that Christians in Pakistan have to undergo.  The background to this agitation is rumours that this pastor is inviting Muslims to convert to Christianity.  Several copies of the report are also posted on facebook, there is also a rather roughly edited one here.


This happened two nights ago when I was at a meeting and my family was alone at home. Some Maulvis (a term used of 'learned teachers or doctors of Islamic law) came to my house and were banging and kicking the door. They wanted to meet me. My family was very scared and my children were crying and praying inside. They left and came back again. One of them said to me, " I want to become Christian". I said, " I do not make anybody Christian". The other one said "I was a Muslim and now I have become Christian, I need your help". I understood the situation and knew that they were trying to harass me. So I did not answer them. They threatened me when they left.

Last night in the area of LDA, Walton Road Lahore, Muslims fired with their guns on the homes of Christians living there. It is now 1:40 am, August 31, 2012 we can hear the Muslims chanting naara-e taqbeer outside.

It all started when a Muslim man named Ahmed Bhatti who owns a butcher shop next to the place where we hold our tent Church started a madrasah (Islamic school) on his property. He started melad there. Police comes there all the time and liquor is served to them.

Last Sunday when our Church service was over, there were 10-15 gundas who were standing with guns started to tease (this usually means sexually harass) our Christian girls. The situation was very bad.

Now that same man Ahmed Bhatti and others with him told the Muslim owners whose tenants are Christians to tell them to convert to Islam otherwise vacate their properties.They have vacated some shops who were run by Christians. One Christian man had his Gospel music on in the shop, they beat him up and kicked him out from that shop on dung point .

Ahmed Bhatti on his microphone was shouting, " I am giving Christians this invitation to convert to Islam otherwise they will face consequences". Right now we can hear them chanting and shouting naara-e-taqbeer (the title of the phrase 'Allah is great'). 

We had called the Police who came and spent some time there, had a tea party and left. The Police is involved with them. (i want to let you know on 14 Aug 2012 police killed a Christian boy in Nawaz sharif colony which is localted next to LDA Quatters Walton Road Lahore). While Police was there, this Ahmed Bhatti punched the glass of his shop door and said, Christians have done this to me.

They have said there will be no Church service there on Sunday, if you will try you will face the consequences. Police has done nothing so far, they are with this man.

We have spoken to Kamran Michael, Akram Gill and other Christian leaders who are getting the Police involved. Our young Christian boys are ready to fight back but we have told them not to. 

It is now 2.00 am in Pakistan and at this very moment the situation is very very tense. About 100 to 200 young people are outside shouting. They can burn our homes anytime. Please pray for the Christians of Lahore and the situation here. We are requesting you all to please pray for us and put International pressure for this kind of situation. Our people are helpless.

1 killed, many injured in police backed Muslim land grab near Lahore

Victim of Muslim land grab

We have reports of yet another violent Muslim land grab.  We don't have any further details, not even names of victims.  Once again, influential Muslims have attacked vulnerable Christians to take their land, shooting many - one victim was killed (pictured here), and another was kidnapped, another with serious gunshot wounds, and 5 others also injured.  The crime happened near Phool Nagar, a large town some 20 miles south west of Lahore.  

An FIR has been registered with the police, but the police keep making lame excuses to avoid arresting the influential perpetrators, not least because this theft of 40 acres of land was aided and abetted by police officials, again a far from unknown circumstance.  

Source

More on Khuran Masih

A little more information on the story last month about Khuran Masih :

Surprise, surprise, the false accusations of blasphemy started immediately after the mason had a row with his landlord / boss earlier in the day over rent. Khuran states the charges against him were false. The conflicting stories suggest a fraud. Part of the charges say that the landlord found a partially burnt Quran in a cavity in the wall, but Khuran says that the small house and courtyard he and his wife rented was cemented over and had no cavities anywhere. Initially his landlord thought both had done the deed, and some reports say both couple were arrested, although Khuran's account was that he did not know anything about the charges until he went to the police station to get his arrested wife, who was released after questioning by police. He hadn't even been at home at the time of the alleged 'incident'.

Khuran is greatly shaken, and is desperate for the safety of his wife, who at last report was sheltering with his relatives.

Once again, a typical pattern ensued, with Muslim leaders whipping up anti-Christian feeling and pre-empting justice by categorically stating to the mobs they created that the Christian couple 'have blasphemed and must be severely punished'. Although things calmed down after a couple of days, several Christian families left their homes in fear.

The legal counsel retained to fight Khuran Masih's case claimed that the police acted in an irregular fashion and not according to procedure as only higher ranking police officers can bring a blasphemy case. The officer in charge, Mian Shafqat, claims that they recovered burnt Quran pages and that they had 'proven' that Khuran intentionally burnt them.

Yeah, right! On past showing, BPCA strongly suspects that this 'proof' will be so much moon-shine. Once again, this case shows how open to abuse the perverse blasphemy laws are. A row with the landlord in the morning, accused of blasphemy that afternoon. Go figure!

Last word is that his trial is starting about now.

Please PRAY that justice will be done, and the wicked nature of the false allegations would be exposed.

Source

Plotting Mullahs falsely accuse Lahore pastors of blasphemy

More evidence of the wicked abuse of blasphemy laws and the way they are used as a weapon against Christians is emerging with a new case, where Muslim leaders have used the forum of an interfaith meeting to falsely claim that the pastors who raised the issue of abusive / false blasphemy accusations had themselves blasphemed.

The events happened in Lahore, a city where in recent times at least one Imam has used 'reconciliation' meetings to force Christian churches to bow to his wishes after violence to the same end incited by the same Imam.

According to reports Bishop Pervaiz Joseph and Pastor Baber George have for years worked on Interfaith Harmony and peace promotion for seven years. They frequently met Muslim religious leaders and politicians to discuss issues of common interest. At one such meeting in October they raised the issue of the misuse of the blasphemy laws. Some of the Muslim leaders did not like it and accused them blasphemy against Islam's prophet. Both bishop and pastor have had to go into hiding with their families.

Local sources have said that in actual fact several of the Muslim leaders had been angered by the pairs' work to raise the status of Christians and give them a voice in the nation, and had tried to blackmail and harass Pastor George. They then planned to destroy them by accusations of blasphemy. Sources say Christian clergymen have been receiving threatening phone calls from Islamic leaders.

Source

Act:

Sign our petition, and tell your friends to do the same

Talk to your MP about the issue and encourage them to raise it, particularly if people you know are affected.

Email the Embassy and raise your concerns about the blasphemy law firmly but politely and temperately. Alternatively, and possibly even better, write to the Pakistani High Commissioner, Mr. Wajid Shamsul Hasan at

High Commission for Pakistan

34 – 36 Lowndes Square

London

SW1X 9JN

Both by email and letter, a good idea would be to be brief (maximum one page A4), with not a lot of polemics, and emphasis on recommendations for action

800 Christians evicted,homes razed

Above : Christians house contents after forced eviction

Below : Child plays by rubble of demolished homes

Last month in Lahore, 800 poor Christians were evicted from their homes with less than a days notice, some not even being able to clear all the belongings out before the bulldozers came in. The slum (150 houses) was demolished to create an alternative road to a nearby fruit and vegetable market. The community had lived in that location since 1998, when they moved in after being evicted from another slum to make way for a housing association. These actions were a direct violation of Pakistani law, because it requires alternative accommodation to be found for communities of this size and age.

The Christians staged a protest to protect their church, but all their houses were bulldozed. They were left traumatised and in tears, with most expecting to sleep outside for a long period as they just cannot afford the rents. What little belongings they have are vulnerable to destruction if it rains. One little girl declared that they were Pakistani, but 'if they don't want us here, they should throw us out of the country, reflecting the despair and rejection felt by the whole community.

Authorities meant to meet with the community the day before were suddenly unavailable and out of town, and the police claimed that the residents had been told of the evictions several weeks before, but the residents denied this, saying that the first they heard was the day before the evictions.

Source :

http://www.persecution.org/2011/09/17/over-800-poor-christians-evicted-from-slum-colony-in-pakistan/?ref=dsky

Dengue fever hits Pakistan - along with floods

The folks at Alfa Productions have informed us that as well as the new floods in the Sindh province that have displaced many people and killed several hundred, whilst the effects of last years catastrophic flooding are still felt, the country is also being hit by the dengue fever, with around 6000 cases in Lahore and close to 300 in Karachi. Apparently the hospitals don't have the resources to cope with this plague.