Blasphemy, bible, children and sharia: Karachi, Bangladesh and Egypt

As we have seen, Muslim extremists have no compunction in attacking children and the vulnerable. They did it with Rimsha, and now the Taliban have shot a courageous 14 year old Muslim girl as she waited for her school bus, because she has exposed their atrocities and stood up for education for girls and the rights of women which they despise.  The pitiful excuse from Pakistani Taliban?  'Whoever leads a campaign against Sharia and Islam is ordered to be killed by Sharia'.
Oh yes, lets shoot unarmed schoolgirls and claim she was leading a campaign against 'Sharia'.  Was she?  If Sharia involves the oppression of women and the massacres of innocents, then yes she did.
Apparently it is 'obligatory' to kill such courageous people.  They justify it by citing the example of one of the companions of the prophet of Islam who killed his blind wife for using words against the prophet, a prophet who praised that self same act.  It also justifies the killing of the young by referring to an alleged godly and righteous teacher of Moses mentioned in the Koran who killed a child, and justified by saying that the child would bring a 'bad name' upon his godly parents.
This is the kind of pathetic and satanic excuse that these Taliban barbarians use for trying to murder an innocent and unarmed schoolgirl in cold blood.  If you want to read what they said (and their claim that they did not attack her because of her educational work, and that it is all lies of the media - see here.

Muslim Ulema groups stand up for Rimsha?

According to the Guardian newspaper some Muslim groups in Pakistan are now coming out in support of Rimsha.  This is potentially a significant development which the BPCA welcomes, but with caution.  We have seen words from politicians before, but deeds - consistent deeds - are the only thing that will really count.

According to the report the All Pakistan Ulema Council, described as an umbrella group of clerics and scholars, called for justice, and for those who made false allegations of blasphemy to be punished.  They warned that 'the law of the jungle' was gripping Pakistan.  Their spokesman, Tahir  Ashrafi, stated that they didn't want to see injustice done on anyone and wanted to end the climate of fear.

In what is hopefully a significant sign, Ashrafi is part of leadership group of another umbrella group called Defence of Pakistan Council, which includes thinly disguised banned extremist organisations. Another group suspected of violence against Ahmahdi's called Khatm-e-Nubuwwat has also issued condemnation.

These are the first time that Muslim groups have called for justice for Christians in this way.  BPCA welcomes these statements, but only if they become far more than mere words.

Secret plea from victim of blasphemy laws

The family of this Pakistani Christian rights activist secretly videoed his plea for help, under the noses of the prison guards.  The interview is from about 0:55 on, and shows the desperate situation and how effective false accusations of blasphemy, particularly against bread-winners.  In addition it tells of the mistreatment (denial of medication, discrimination and torture) he suffers in prison.

In addition BPCA has seen plea's for prayer for the bail hearing of Mr.Khuram Masih, who has been falsely charged with blasphemy and held in prison for 9 months.  His hearing is in Lahore High court on the 28th of August.

Flight of a flag of false offence

A patriotic family of Christians in Karachi preparing yesterday (8th) for Pakistan's approaching Independence day have paid the price for honouring their nation by false accusations of dishonouring it and blasphemy against Allah.  The whole Christian community in that neighbourhood are threatened with being burned out by Muslim mobs stirred up by hate speech from local mosques.

The family had been washing a Pakistani flag, ready to put it up or hang it out for Independence Day.  Unfortunately it blew away in the wind and landed on a neighbours house.  Even more unfortunately, it was a Muslim neighbour who, leading instantly to claims of blasphemy.  Because the flag had the phrase 'May Allah protect the beloved land' the neighbours had the opportunity not only to claim that the Christians had deliberately thrown it and have disgraced the name of Allah, but they went on to fabricate claims that the Christians had used the flag as a rug, so that they sat on the name of Allah.

There are 15 Christian families in the neighbourhood, known as Qatil Garhi, and after the incident was reported in the local mosques, they are very afraid, because the local Muslims are gathering and using the alleged 'insult' to threaten to burn out all the Christians.

Please pray for them, for peace in every way

Source

From darkness to light.... for one, for many?

Julie Aftab - survivor, example of God's ability to 'work out all things for good'

Julie Aftab was a fun loving child who had to leave school at age 12 to work 13 hour days to support her family.  She described it as the worst day of her life, as she dreamed of going to college.  At work, she always wore her cross.  Age 16, this offended someone (some sources also say that her refusal to be in a relationship was also a factor in what happened), and she was at work when one man burst in and threw acid at her from a distance, then another pulled her by the hair from behind and poured acid on her face and down her throat.  She lost teeth, her cheek and an eye in the attack.  She was rushed to hospital, but many refused to treat her for fear of retaliation by the perpetrators.  Those that were willing to treat her started skin grafts, some of them without anaesthetic.  

Typically, her attackers were never brought to justice and still walk free.  Her attacker falsely claimed that Julie had blasphemed against Islam to justify his actions and to put pressure on her - her life was still in danger  She barely escaped alive after a man tried to shoot her.  She moved her head just enough when her mum called out a warning, but she was hit with bullets in the head and the stomach

A sponsor arranged for her to go to the US, where she had to undergo 27 operations.  She spoke no English, but started to go to school, and later became the first person in her family to go to college.  She works in a store to support her family still.  She has also raised funds to build a safe house in Pakistan.  'Before I wanted to save peoples bodies' (as a doctor) she says, 'but now I want to save souls'.  

Her life is a picture of Jesus teaching on forgiveness, and a radiant beauty that is beyond skin deep, and she recently got engaged as well as being about to graduate, not from college, but from university!

For more sources, see here, here and here

Snooker quarrels and church sermons - result in blasphemy charges

Two more stories of blasphemy accusations or threats of the same - both with many typical features.

The first is in the town of Farooqabad, about 20 miles north-west of Lahore.  Local police arrested Sajid Inayat, 20, a Christian after allegations that he burned pages of the Quran in a box.  The charges came two days after a dispute with two Muslim boys over a snooker game, and the charge of willful desecration of the Quran carries a penalty of life-imprisonment.  Those falsely accusing him were the Muslim boys in the original incident.  As he went to work, they repeatedly accused him of setting fire to a box on a nearby pole, but he asked why he would do such a thing and walked on, saying they could do what they liked.  When he left, the boys raised a mob of Muslims and started a ruckus.  Several Christian families fled in fear of their lives, although local police and Muslim officials say none of the 20-25 Christian families in the area will be harmed.

BPCA publicly urges the police to deal quickly and dismiss this blatantly false case, as was the case in a recent incident near Gojra (see the last of the three stories on this page)

Source

And in another case showing classically the situation in Pakistan for churches, local Christians were forced to apologize after a visiting preacher quoted from the Quran.  The pastor was invited by a local teacher to speak at a mass in a village called Data Zedka, which is near Sialkot, a town about 20 miles northeast of Gujranwala.
However a local Islamic cleric came and disrupted the meeting, abusing and threatening to kill the pastor after he quoted verses from the Quran.  He tried to physically attack the preacher himself, but the church members prevented him.  He called the police to the church, and in the meantime the pastor fled for his life.  The school teacher has apologized  to the Islamic cleric, who is still demanding that the pastor return and publicly apologize over the loud speaker for quoting the Quran, or else there will be 'consequences'.  This despite the Christian community sending women to the clerics wife and mother to apologize to try and avoid agitation by Muslims.  The cleric has said his blood boiled when the pastor used Quranic verses to support a Christian point of view - and would have killed him on the spot if he had managed to get a weapon.  The police have agreed to post a blasphemy case from the Cleric if the pastor doesn't come and apologize by the next day. It is unclear what has happened since then.  The police appear to be trying to calm things down, albeit by the normal method of pressuring Christians to apologize and defer to the Muslims, but the cleric accused the police of being 'followers of the American agenda of protecting the Christians'.

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