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.

More general lawlessness in Pakistan - acid attacks on women, militant murder

Over the last couple of weeks, I've come across several stories from Pakistan that don't involve Christians, but do illustrate wider issues in Pakistani society. First off is that 7 women have been disfigured by acid attacks in just a two day period, in several incidents. In the first, a student at college was attacked by two fellow students because she did not have her head covered with a dupatta (a headscarf seen as a symbol of modesty). They heckled her, and when she shouted out, they threw acid on her face, saying she deserved to have her face ruined. When the girls parents confronted the families of the perpetrators, instead of requests for forgiveness they were met with gunfire and had to flee for their lives.

The second incident involved a woman fleeing back to her home after yet another case of domestic abuse. Her husband came to her families house, promising she wouldn't beat her again, but when she refused, he and two friends broke into their house and threw acid on her and five other women in her family while they slept, leaving them with up to 80% burns on their face and bodies.

Source http://tribune.com.pk/story/254618/acid-attacks-7-women-burned-in-two-days/

In Lahore, in another incident, two Muslims were killed in a shoot out after a militantly anti-Shia group marched through a Shia area, escorting a leader released from bail in July charged with murdering 70 people, mostly Shia. He has been preaching hatred against Shia ever since, and broke his conditions of bail by travelling. The march took place, despite police assurances that it wouldn't. Both sides blamed each other for starting shooting first, but two of the extremist group were killed, and 10 people were injured, including a policeman.

Source http://tribune.com.pk/story/254945/clash-between-sectarian-groups-leaves-1-dead/