Alfred Arifa - Drugged, kidnapped, allegedly married, raped, beaten and locked away! Sound familiar?

Everyday I receive reports from Pakistan that churn my insides, none more so than the reports of young Christian women who find themselves subject to the horrendous torture of rape and forced Islamic marriage.  


Police insouciance if not reticence to get involved in theses cases, has made such activity a primary habit for men of loose morals or those with a  fundamentalist agenda.  


I could spend all day naming innocent victims like Farah Hatim, Mariam Gill or poor 2 year old Neha - who has devloped long term physical defects and still suffers trauma, as a consequence of the pernicious attack on her at such a young and vulnerable age.


It is very disheartening that despite the efforts of so many humanitarian groups, the situation for minority groups in Pakistan has altered so little.  Many could argue that the intensity and frequency of incidents has worsened in recent years.   Yet this is where we are and we must all continue the campaign for justice!


The recent video of the successful exit of Neha and her family from tyrannical Pakistan to Canada is a story of success that fills my heart with joy.  However, such escapes are few and the majority of sufferers are still in hiding, many of whom obtain little support.  


The latest story is one with so many similar facets, Kidnap, rape forced marriage, torture and ignorant Police are themes that serve to create nausea in any person with a modicum of moral fibre. 


The pain continues....


Please pray for all the young single and married women from minorities in Pakistan.  They are never safe from the widespread depravities that exist in a country that has lost connection with it's original passions, ideologies and beliefs.   Pray for their safety, their strength in adversity and    
for God's watchful eye of protection to remain over them.


Here is Agenzia Fides report on the latest victim:




Another case of a Pakistani Christian girl kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam was reported to Fides by the Pakistani Christians Association in Italy.



Alfred Arifa is a 27-year old Catholic girl, from Nawa Killi, Quetta, who was kidnapped by a Muslim man, Amjad, in May 2009. The man was helped by two accomplices to coordinate the pre-planned kidnapping. We are talking about two of Arifa's trusted friends, Lubna and Rebecca. She went to Rebecca's house where she was given drugs in a cup of tea.


Once she fell unconsciousness, the young woman was taken away by Amjad. When Arifa returned to her senses she found herself in Amjad's house. Amjad told her that she had converted to Islam and had married him, showing her a fake marriage certificate.


Arifa denied that she had converted to islam, much less to have married him, since she was unconsciousness. To overcome the resistance on behalf of the girl, Amjad subjected her to mental and physical torture. Arifa was constantly drugged, severly beaten and locked in the house for two years. Arifa attempted to escape several times.


The night before August 1, Amjad had beaten Arifa severly, causing other internal injuries. On August 1, she found for the first time in two years the front door of the house unlocked. Although seriously injured, she did not fail to take advantage of the opportunity; She escaped from the house. She took a rickshaw and went to the Civil Hospital, where she was given primary treatment. She then went to her brother Adnan.
 
The woman then filed a complaint against Amjad, but the police has done nothing so far to bring the culprit to justice. On the other hand, the police inspector said he was happy that Arifa had converted to Islam.


Now Arifa and her family are on the run to save their lives since they have received death threats from Amjad. Amjad says that Arifa is a Muslim and his wife. For this reason she cannot run away from home, otherwise she will be killed along with her family. On the other hand Arifa states: "I am a Christian and have always remained steadfast in my Christian faith and continued to pray to Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary in my heart for liberation during these two years of imprisonment".

Images from our 2nd July 2011 protest - provided by Vinnie from Nelson Church.

Ben Buckland led the march playing Amazing Grace

Pastor Robin Gill travelled form Glasgow

Over 50 Pakistani Christians travelled from Nelson Alone despite what the critics say...

David Dean from Nelson Church spoke of the pain and suffering he felt for our family in Pakistan.

D

Andrea Minichiello Williams from Christian Concern and Bishop Dr Michael Nazir- Ali spoke of the strength of Pakistani Christians who have faced and overcome extreme persecution.

Director of "Aid to the Church in Need" Neville Kyrke-Smith described the agonies suffered by Pakistani Christians.

 Manoj Raithatha (South Asian Concern), Neville Kyrke-Smith (ACNUK), Andrea Minichiello-Williams (Chritian Concern), Wilson Chowdhry and

 Imam Dr Taj Hargey spoke of the need for all communities to work together to bring and end to global tyranny.

London event - praying for Egypt

We have received the following notification :

Egypt Prayer Evenings 2011

Join CSW and United Action for Egyptian Christians to pray for the nation of Egypt at this crucial time in the nation’s history.

We’ll gather to pray for the nation, for the upcoming elections and for Egypt’s religious minorities in a time of increased attacks against them.

With an informal feel to them, each evening will include updates from CSW and UAFEC, with firsthand news from contacts in Egypt, and lots of time for prayer and worship.

If you’re not in London, we’d still love you to get involved and gather locally to pray so that we have a nationwide prayer chain for Egypt this year.

Date
Wednesday 24 August

Venue
London Network Church
131 East Acton Lane
London W3 7HB

Each event starts at 7.30pm and we’ll aim to finish by 9.30pm.

Original weblink : http://www.csw.org.uk/prayforegypt.htm

When perverted lust and religious hatred merge - a horror from the past

Whatever they are now doing, let us pray for the little girl featured in this video and her family. When her father refused to convert to Islam, his 2 year old girl was raped so badly that she has been maimed for life.

Let us also pray for the perpetrator and his family, that they might be freed out of the demonic bondage that led to this attack, and may come to know the forgiveness, salvation and transformation that only Jesus the Messiah can bring to them.

Hospital Hold-Up

A small coterie of Muslim businessman have tried to inveigle the police into helping them steal a whole hospital in Taxilla near Islamabad from the Presbyterian church several months ago. The Catholic bishop from Islamabad has intervened, and a district police officer investigated and promised that the culprits would be arrested. As usual, the culprits were prominent businessmen aided by influential local political figures. They claimed that the missionary-owned hospital had been sold to them, and that the hospital administrators were refusing to hand over the property. They filed a report with the police, and later ramped up the pressure by accusing the administrators of blasphemy.

The Catholic bishop, Rufin Anthony, said 'This is not a first attempt to take over Church or missionary property by force. The Christian Hospital in Taxila has been targeted by various groups in the past.'

Thankfully, a Gojra-type incident seems to have been avoided, but it could so easily have been that abuse of the blasphemy law and manipulation religious feeling for greedy theft of a hospital led to such an incident. The incident gives further weight to the need for the Government of Pakistan to turn from its cowardly deference to Islamicist fanatics, and re-commit to amending the corrupting and corrosive blasphemy laws.

Thanks again to Asia News for reporting this story.

Pukhtoon Fundamentalist Attacked My Brother this is my Appeal for Prayer and Peace

Ashfaq Munawar another Karachi Christian Attacked for his belief!

I received disturbing news of a man attacked simply for being Christian. This is another attack from the lawless city of Karachi. It is about time the Pakistan Government recognised their responsibility to protect all their citizens. I call on those reading this story to contact your MP's or statesmen from your home countries and to call for a concerted effort to eradicate such obvious human right abuses. The writer says he is the brother of the victim and I produce the story prima facie (sic):

by Liaquat Munawar Munawar Masih on Monday, August 15, 2011 at 10:59pm

On 14th august at 6:30am near sea view D.H.A( defence housing authority ) phase 8,jurisdiction of Durkhshan police station Karachi, Pakistan, Pakhtoon fundamentalists attacked my brother Ashfaq Munawar.


Ashfaq is seriously injured, he has fractures on both jaws, and he lost 5 teeth.


Today 15th august, when he regained consciousness and informed me about his attack. He said;


"I was coming from Sea View the beach site of Karachi sea, after celebration of our country's Independence Day, ( because people's of all Karachi gathered there and celebrate different event's ). Six Pukhtoon fundamentalists stopped me and they asked me if I were a muslim or Christian, I said I am by birth Christian they said,"Kalma Parho" (read the Kalma it's an important verse for Muslims), and become a muslim. I refused, then they shouted at me. I told them I will never ever become a muslim. Then they beat me badly with iron rods and iron hand clips. When I lay down on the floor they thought I had died and they fired into the air with heavy weapons, and also crushed my motor bike with iron rods. They left me alone there as they made a getaway due to the attention the gunfire had caused. Police arrived at the scene they also beat me and took my motor bike to the Police station. They left me alone there. Fortunately one of my neighbour was going from that way he put me on Taxi and brought me home".


I request to all my Christian friends, brothers, and sisters kindly pray for my brother and my family, because we are in trouble my entire family is tense and our organization members are very depressed...

PS. For those of you on facebook, the article is on Liaquat's 'Notes' and you can read the original there.

With NkH

If it looks like a snake ..... it must be an eagle!

Shabbaz Bhatti

The old saying goes : 'If it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck, quacks like a duck.... then it sure aint a sparrow!'

In Pakistan, by the looks of the increasingly farcical police investigation into the assassination of Shabbaz Bhatti of blessed memory, it might better be phrased 'If it looks like a snake, slithers like a snake, hisses like a snake.... then it must be an eagle!'.

When Bhatti was assassinated by killers wielding Khalashnikovs, the scene was littered with pamphlets by terrorist groups al-Qaeda and Tehrik-i-Taliban Punjab, and the latter immediately claimed responsibility, telling the BBC Urdu service that '"This man was a known blasphemer of the Prophet, We will continue to target all those who speak against the law which punishes those who insult the prophet. Their fate will be the same". Minister Bhatti had in the preceeding months received many death threats from Islamicist groups.

The text of one of the pamphlets left at the murder scene

Now, suddenly, the police are blaming his death on a mysterious 'family vendetta' over property feuds, where un-named family members are said to have fled the country after his death, and some have converted to Islam, allegedly. The police plan to go to Interpol to get warrants for their arrest, but have not because they seem to lack 'definitive proof'.

The text of an article from Ecumenical News International follows :

Pakistani police claim Bhatti murder due to family dispute, story says

ENI-11-0421

By Anto Akkara

Bangalore, India (ENInews)--Police investigators in Pakistan are developing a theory that the murder of Pakistani religious affairs minister Shahbaz Bhatti was due to a "family dispute," not religious extremism, according to a story on 9 August in the Express Tribune English daily newspaper.

Quoting an unidentified official associated with the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the assassination, the Tribune said"Shahbaz's murder is said to be linked to a 'chronic rivalry' with relatives who lived in Faisalabad five years ago."

Bhatti, 42, was a Roman Catholic and vigorously campaigned forminority religious rights in Pakistan, which is 95 percent Muslim. He had criticized the country's blasphemy law, which makes it a capitalcrime to insult Islam, before he was ambushed and sprayed with bullets on 2 March as he was leaving for his office in Islamabad. Groups claiming ties with the Islamic Taliban and al-Qaida later claimed responsibility for the murder.

Christian groups criticized the police investigation, based on the news reports. "This is just another cover up. They want to show that Shahbaz was not killed by religious extremists," Victor Azariah,general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Pakistan (NCCP), told ENI news on 12 August from his office in Lahore.
According to the Tribune story, a member of the JIT team claims that two or three of the murderers converted to Islam and fled Pakistan.The report also quoted the official as saying that while names of the culprits have not been identified yet, "we will approach Interpol for their arrest."

Azariah said there is now no confidence in the Bhatti probe. "Nothing is going to happen with this investigation. The people have lost faithin the process," he said. The NCCP groups the country's four mainline Protestant churches. "The investigators seem to ignore even the claimof an Islamic party owning up to the murder," he added.

Cecil Choudhary, executive secretary of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), co-founded by Bhatti, told ENInews that the news represented "an extremely alarming twist" in the investigation. "It has deliberately been taken onto another track in order to clear the Islamic extremists, who categorically claimed responsibility for the murder," he said. APMA plans to organize street protests to demand a judicial enquiry into the assassination. "We want the truth to come out," he said.

Peter Jacob, executive secretary of the Justice and Commission of theCatholic church, told ENI news that the "family feud" theory is unfounded. "Bhatti is my third cousin and I know him from childhood.We have the same relatives. The allegation of family and property feudis only to defame a bold champion of minority rights," he said.

The Express Tribune, based in Karachi, Pakistan, is published incollaboration with the International Herald Tribune.

All articles (c) Ecumenical News International

Reproduction permitted only by media subscribers and provided ENI is acknowledged as the source.
Ecumenical News International, PO Box 2100CH - 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland

The original Express Tribune article, if you wish to read it in full, is here.

The bloodied martyrdom site

For a recap on the police 'investigation', after a long silence, with no arrests of anyone, and with the memory of the terrorists group's responsibility fading, in June, the police arrested one of Bhatti's former employees. Mysterious letters were sent to a lawyer associated with Bhatti's APMA (All Pakistani Minorities alliance) group alleging the man, who had worked with the minister for 10 years, was involved in the assassination and had nursed a grudge against Bhatti. The lawyer passed the letters to the police, which led to the arrest. But as stated at the time, church leaders expressed considerable surprise and scepticism.

After questioning by police, the suspect, Hafiz Nazar Muhammad, was released by the courts, denying the police request to detain him for another week for questioning. A week or so later, Bhatti's brother Paul, was expressing gratitude that the investigations were 'back on track', with the Interior ministry set to issue international arrest warrants for the perpetrators who were said to be in Dubai, and from al-Qaeda related groups.

But now, 5 or so weeks later, the same lawyer who received the mysterious letters is fighting against these latest allegations that it was a family feud, confirming that the prime suspects should be the terrorists who claimed responsibility. As this article says, the lack of names or any information about the alleged murderers means that 'there is strong suspicion that such rumours are a pretext to divert attention away from the real culprits. ' The lawyer, Tahir Naveed, the article goes on, says that 'newspapers are trying to mislead the public by dismissing “Shabhaz’s martyrdom” as the result of a domestic quarrel. This way, one part of the country can simply forget about the minister, his battles against the blasphemy law and his defence of Asia Bibi and all those who were victims of violence and abuses because of their faith.'

The lawyer Tahir Naveed Chaudhary

Evidently strong forces are at work repeatedly trying to bring about a miscarriage of justice and divert attention from the real murderers and the unjust blasphemy laws associated with the case. The repeated police flip-flopping seems to suggest that there is a power struggle going on around the case.

Could a clue perhaps be found, as one commentator at the time of the assassination observed, in the fact that the murder of this minister happened in a sector that ''also ‘happens to be’ the ISI officers’ residential colony"? After all, elements (at least) within the ISI have a long history of supporting the Taliban and related groups. And wasn't Bin Laden found slap bang in the middle of a top army officer residential area? Draw your own conclusions.

Disregarding these shadowy periphery issues, the fact is that there is a concerted effort, in typical Sharia mind-set fashion, to pin the blame on the victim community, enforce a miscarriage of justice, and divert attention from the Sharia-snakes who perpetrated the attack. It remains to be seen if the new spin (and that's an understatement!) will resonate with the nation, but the fact that newspapers saw fit to publish these dubious 'results' prima facie, without much if any comment on their tenuousness and vagueness does not exactly inspire confidence in that regard.