Google+
 
Pagina precedente | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 » | Pagina successiva

ABOUT THE CHURCH AND THE VATICAN

Ultimo Aggiornamento: 21/07/2014 00:41
Autore
Stampa | Notifica email    
02/08/2009 17:30
OFFLINE
Post: 18.077
Post: 737
Registrato il: 28/08/2005
Registrato il: 20/01/2009
Administratore
Utente Senior

The town of Gojra is not far from Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, which is in Punjab province.


HORROR IN PAKISTAN:
7 Christians burned alive
by Muslim fundamentalists
in the Punjab

Translated from
the Italian service of




Seven Christians, including four women and a child, were burned alive by a group of Muslim fundamentalists in Gojra, punjab province.

The motivation was the alleted profanation of the Quran by a Christian boy.

Pakistan's Minister for Minorities Shabaz Bhatti, calling the accusation false and pretextual, denounced the fact that the police had not provided sufficient protectuion for the tiny Christian minority in the region.



The attackers destroyed more than 70 homes and burned down two churches. Dozens were injured, some in serious condition.

The National Commission for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Church in Pakistan pointed out that such attacks have been frequent in the Punjab and almost always, they are linked to false accusations of blasphemy.

In his missionary prayer intention for August, the Holy Father asks precisely to pray for "Christians who are discriminated and persecuted... in the name of Christ", so that "their human rights, equality and religious freedom may be respected" so that they may "live and freely profess their faith".


In its issue today (8/2/09)

devotes almost a whole page to the Punjab events:



AsiaNews has the background available in English:

Eight Christians burned alive in Punjab
by Fareed Khan



GOJRA, Pakistan, Aug. 2, 2009 (AsiaNews) - Pakistani special forces have taken control of the town of Gojra (Punjab) after yesterday’s bloody episode in which at least 8 people - including 4 women and a child of 7 years - were burned alive and 20 others wounded.

At least 50 houses of Christians were burned and destroyed and thousands of faithful fled to escape execution. Relatives of the victims refuse to take care of dead bodies and do not want funerals until the culprits are arrested.

Some of the killed have been identified: Hamed Masih, 50, Asia Bibi, 20; Asifa Bibi, 19, Imam Bibi, 22; Musa 7; Akhlas Masih, 40, Parveen, 50.

At least 3,000 Muslims, incited by local religious authorities, marched to the Christian village Gojra founded 50 years ago. Groups of young Muslims - perhaps from the Sunni group Sipah-e-Sahabaha - with their faces covered started to shoot wildly. The villagers fled, but some were trapped and were killed by gunfire.

To burn down the houses, the militants used a fuel that is difficult to extinguish. Witnesses said the same fuel was used in the village of Shanti Nagar, burned in February 2007, in the destruction of the village of Sangla Hill (2005); in the burning of the 50 houses of Christians and the two churches on the evening of July 30 in Koriyan near Gojra.

The anti-Christian attacks started weeks ago with charges of blasphemy against Talib Masih, who is accused of having burned pages of the Koran during a wedding ceremony on July 29 at Koriyan.

On July 30 hundreds of Islamic militants attacked and set on fire the houses of Christians in Koriyan and two Protestant churches, the Church of Pakistan and the New Apostolic Church. According to police, some Christians fired shots against the militants, further fuelling their violent response.

The minister for minorities, Beat Shahbaz, a Catholic, has accused the police of negligence. The local Christians say they have been requesting the protection of law enforcement officers for days because the situation was tense, but have been ignored.

Some Christians argue that although the police were present during the attack at Gojra, the thugs were not apprehended. Other witnesses say that after a while the police tried to stop them, but the militants also attacked the police injuring some.

Yesterday, as the news of attacks against Christians spread, in Lahore there was a demonstration to demand guarantees of freedom for Christians.



Spero News has reports coming from the Minorities Concern of Pakistan, an e-newsletter of Religious Minorities for Peace and Harmony in Pakistan:

Churches and Christian homes
burned in Pakistan

By Aftab Mughal
Minorities Concern of Pakistan

August 1, 2009

Urged on by calls from their mullahs, Muslim mobs burned down more than 50 homes of the Christian community in a village of the province of Punjab.

A house of worship of the Anglican-affiliated Church of Pakistan, as well as another belonging to the New Apostolic Church, were both put to the torch in the evening hours of July 30 following a reaction to a supposed desecration of the Koran.

Around 1000 Muslim believers, bearing firearms and explosives, also attacked numerous Christian homes and burned them. The village of Kolyat, where the attacks occured, is home to some 100 Christian families who had been living there for several decades. As the attacks widened, Christian men, women and children fled the onslaught and hid themselves in nearby fields.

According to eyewitnesses, the attackers burnt everything belonging to the Christians, including clothes, food, utensils, beds, school books and Bibles in the houses. Even their animals were consumed by the blaze. There are reports that in some cases marauders stole some of Christians’ livestock as well.

The problem arose following a dispute between Muslim and Christian boys. Even while Christian and Muslim elders of the village settled the issue, some relatives of Muslim boys decided to pursue the matter.

They spread a rumor that a Christian, Talib Masih, had burned pages of Koran during a wedding ceremony on July 29. The Christians of the area said that this was a false accusation. However, tensions rose, according to the Daily Times, after pages of an Islamist book were found outside a Christian house on July 26.

Denunciations arose against Christians and rang throughout the mosques of nearby villages as they did at the local mosque. After the announcements, Muslims from various villages gathered and attacked Christian houses. Chanting “Allah is Great” and “kill the infidels,” they blocked the main road and for hours did not allow the fire brigade to enter the village to douse the flames.

“After some time, police and district management reached at the spot but the uncontrolled mob continued their actions,” Atif Jamil Pagaan, a Christian social worker from Faisalabad reported.

"They used trucks to break the walls and petrol to start the fires. We saved our lives only by hiding in the fields until three in the morning, when relatives arrived with vehicles to collect us. The children cried all night," according to Shubaan Masih, a local Christian.

Interfaith League chairman Sajid Ishaq, a Muslim from Faisalabad, says it is condemnable to make religion a basis for committing acts of violence.

Meanwhile, local police have charged three Christians, Mukhtar Masih, Talib Masih and Imran Masih, with blasphemy against Islam. However, they were not arrested until the actual filing of the report. Another Christian, Mehnga Masih, submitted an complaint against 22 people for attacking Christian homes. No action has yet been taken by the police on his compliant.

“There is widespread fear among Christians in Punjab province for safety and security of their lives from attacks of extremist Muslims and misuse of blasphemy laws,” said Christian social worker Saraphine Rubab.

In a second day of blazing violence inspired by Muslim leaders, mobs attacked two villages in the Punjab region of Pakistan. In the second wave, Christians were burned to death in their homes. One victim was a seven-year-old child.

This is the second incident in the last two months in Punjab province in which Christians were attacked following charges of blasphemy. In each case, mosques were used to mobilize Muslims to attack Christians, who make up 1.5 percent of the total population of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.



Christians burned to death
in Pakistan by Muslims


Sunday, August 02, 2009


On August 1, around three thousand violent Muslim demonstrators attacked a Christian community in the town of Gojra in Punjab province and burned 8 Christians to death, including a 7 year-old child. Four women and two men were among the dead, while 20 others were injured.

Fires set by Muslim mobs were extensive in the region: on July 31 Muslim marauders burned down two churches and scores of Christian homes following appeals by local Muslim leaders to avenge a supposed desecration of the Koran in Gorja, a village just 3 miles away.

Rana Sanaullah, Punjab’s law minister, told the media that an initial investigation proved that no desecration of the Koran happened in the area during the last week. Shahbaz Bhatti, federal minister for minorities affairs – the only Christian on the national cabinet - blamed local administrators for not providing adequate security to the Christians of Gojra.

Local mullahs apparently added to the heightened emotions among Muslim believers in the region who were demanding the head of Talib Masih - a Christian who is charged with blasphemy against the Koran.

A general strike was called and demonstrations began early in the morning on July 31. Mobs of Muslims marched on the Christian quarter in the village of Koriyan, blocking main roads and the local railway. When armed Muslim militants approached the locale, Christians opened fire. In apparent retaliation, Muslims then burned and looted Christian homes and places of worship. The Muslim mobs also attacked local police who tried to intervene.

Banned Islamist organizations have made strongholds in southern Punjab, as well as tribal areas and the Swat region. Even so, media outlets sympathetic to the Taliban militants have rejected reports of the swelling strength of the Islamists.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani asked Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to bring the culprits to justice. He also appealed to the masses to remain calm and exercise restraint.

The deputy superintendent of police was fired by the Punjab Inspector General of Police Tariq Saleem Dogar for dereliction of duty for failing to adequately control the Muslim rampage.

Meanwhile, a company of Pakistan Rangers was dispatched to the troubled area on the orders of the federal government to provide law and order.

Although the Punjab government of Mina Shahbaz Sharif has announced a judicial inquiry of the incident, it is highly unlikely that the report will come into light, some Christian leaders said. Sharif was the chief minister of Punjab at the time when a Muslim mob burned down the whole Christian village of Shantinagar in 1997.

A judicial inquiry was initiated by the Punjab government at the time, but the report of that inquiry was never made public despite Christians’ continuous entreaties.

In an editorial appearing in The News, a major English-language daily, reference was made to the ease with which Islamist charges are made:

“The Blasphemy Law introduced by General Ziaul Haq (1977-88) has made it easier to persecute people on the basis of sometimes completely mala fide accusations. The law needs review and amendment. But we must also ask what local authorities were doing as people went on the rampage. It is hard to believe they could do nothing to prevent the mayhem. Their lack of action and sometimes connivance with those acting against minority groups have, in the past, made all kinds of outrages possible.”

This is now the third incident of violence of this kind in Punjab within the last two months in which Christian localities were attacked following allegations of blasphemy. Christians are just 1.5 percent of the total population of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.


[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/08/2009 08:56]
Amministra Discussione: | Chiudi | Sposta | Cancella | Modifica | Notifica email Pagina precedente | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 » | Pagina successiva
Nuova Discussione
 | 
Rispondi
Cerca nel forum

Feed | Forum | Bacheca | Album | Utenti | Cerca | Login | Registrati | Amministra
Crea forum gratis, gestisci la tua comunità! Iscriviti a FreeForumZone
FreeForumZone [v.6.1] - Leggendo la pagina si accettano regolamento e privacy
Tutti gli orari sono GMT+01:00. Adesso sono le 11:38. Versione: Stampabile | Mobile
Copyright © 2000-2024 FFZ srl - www.freeforumzone.com