PAKISTAN

By Isambard Wilkinson in Sangla Hill
(Filed: 14/11/2005)
A mob destroyed Christian churches and schools close to the venue of the next cricket Test between England and Pakistan, giving rise to fears yesterday about the English players' safety.

The violence broke out in Sangla Hill in Punjab on Saturday when Muslim preachers urged people to "take revenge" after a Christian allegedly burnt pages of the Koran.


Security has been tight during England's tour of Pakistan
Hundreds of Christians fled the town as a crowd thousands strong, wielding axes and sticks, set fire to five churches, a dozen houses, three schools, a dispensary, a convent and two parsonages.

The attacks were the worst on Pakistan's Christian community since 2002, when Muslim fanatics led an assault on a church with grenades on Christmas Day.

Three young girls were killed in that attack, at Chianwala, 40 miles north of Lahore.

The England team, which is in the middle of the first Test in Multan, is due to start the second in Faisalabad, 30 miles from Sangla Hill, next Sunday.

Pakistan's Cricket Board said there were no plans at present to change the venue.

"We have been assured by the government that the situation in Sangla Hill is under control and that it was an isolated incident that does not affect Faisalabad," it said.

Christian leaders from across Pakistan gathered in Sangla Hill to show support for victims of the attacks and criticised the government for lack of action.

Shahbaz Bhatti, the chairman of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, denied the Koran burning claim.

"This was a blatant act of religious terrorism," he said. "It was organised by an Islamist extremist group who had designs of destroying the Christian community.

"The police stood by and ignored pleas for help, meaning that they too are culprits in this conspiracy."

The police said they had arrested about 90 people for rioting, violence and vandalising Christian property.

Yousaf Masih, a Christian accused of desecrating the Koran, was detained. Under blasphemy law, the crime carries the death sentence.

President Pervez Musharraf has pledged to crack down on Islamic extremists who have strong links with radicals sympathetic to al-Qa'eda.

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"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

The Voice of the Martyrs
Sources have told The Voice of the Martyrs that at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, June 28, Christian homes in three areas near Peshawar, Pakistan were attacked by a radical Muslim mob. VOM contacts are currently investigating, and more details of the story should be available soon.

The attacks came after a Christian man was accused earlier that day of burning pages with Koranic verses written on them.

VOM sources say that the man, Yousaf Masih, is more than 60 years old and has worked for almost two decades as a sweeper for the Pakistani military. His most recent assignment was cleaning in the home of a military officer, a major. Yesterday the major asked him to clean the office at the major's home. During the cleaning, he came across a bag of "rough papers", and the major told Yousaf to take the papers outside and burn them.

Yousaf is illiterate, and would have no way of knowing what was written on the papers he had been told to burn. Other workers saw the papers and said that Yousaf was burning pages from the Koran.

After hearing their accusations, Yousaf ran away and went to his home, in the Lama Veera area of Nowshera, east of Peshawar, in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier. At 3 p.m. yesterday, police came to the home and arrested Yousaf. Insulting Islam, the Prophet Mohammed or the Koran can be punishable with death under Pakistan's harsh anti-blasphemy laws. Following the arrest, a group of angry Muslims came to the home and began to beat Yousaf's three sons.

Radical Muslims returned to the area at about 10 p.m. last night, and burnt an estimated total of 200 houses in Lama Veera, CMH and Saran. Many houses were looted by members of the mob, who stole TVs, refrigerators and other items. The mob beat Yousaf's three sons, and his brother, Yaqoob. Police have reportedly arrested 16 people involved in the attacks. A Hindu temple was also attacked, as apparently the mob at first believed Yousaf was a Hindu.

Large police forces have surrounded all three areas in an effort to restore order. The Voice of the Martyrs workers are en route to the area, and will evaluate the immediate needs of the Christians there who have lost their homes. Reportedly Christians are currently in fear of further attacks.

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"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

An Islamic government in the North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan has just passed legislation enforcing strict adherence to Islamic teachings. Under the new law, an Islamic watchdog will monitor the observance of Islamic values in public places. The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) compares the law to the Taliban regime's notorious Department of Vice and Virtue in Afghanistan. The Taliban was backed by Pakistan, and many of its members trained in the northwest's religious schools. A news release from APMA called the bill a "hanging sword" for religious minorities and predicted it will be used by Islamic extremists to both persecute and torture Christians and other minorities.

Pray Christians in this region will remain faithful to Christ and act in love toward their Muslim friends and neighbors. Pray God will give them opportunities to share their faith in Christ with those who oppose them. Pray God will reveal Himself to many Muslim leaders, showing them they are persecuting His Son, Jesus Christ, who is full of forgiveness and mercy (Acts 9:4,5).
_________________
"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

A Muslim backlash against Christians, who are seen by many Pakistanis as tied to often reviled America, continued with two attacks on native missionaries. Several weeks ago a missionary was visited by three Muslim men late at night. The men held him at gunpoint and locked him and his family in a back room while they searched his house for two hours. They stole Bibles and Christian literature as well as blankets intended for orphaned children, and destroyed what they could not steal, including a computer and motorbike. Their parting words were a death threat. A few days later, a team of five young gospel workers witnessing in a North Pakistan village were surrounded by 300 Muslim extremists who beat them. The men were dragged to a local police station where policemen refused to let reporters photograph the victims. Thankfully, all the missionaries have been released.

Pray God will strengthen these faithful servants in Pakistan to continue to speak boldly about their Savior. Pray the attackers will be dumbfounded by the forgiving spirit of the believers. Pray all Muslims in Pakistan will see Christianity is not an American religion, but a relationship with the almighty, all-loving God.

_________________
"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

Pakistani Christian, Younis Masih, a resident of Lahore, was arrested September 10th. According to the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), on September 9th, Masih went to the house of Baba Chaby, and told him the loud Islamic music he was playing was disturbing people and stopping them from sleeping. Chaby refused to turn down the music, saying his Muslim friends were listening to the songs. As a result, Masih went home. The next day some of the people who had been in the house listening to the music went looking for Masih. They thrashed him with sticks and beat him till he fell on the ground unconscious. When his wife attempted to intervene, she was also badly beaten, and her clothes torn to shreds. After Masih regained consciousness, he, his wife and a relative went to the police station to register a complaint. Announcements were made in area mosques, instigating the local Muslims to attack and burn Christian's houses...on the allegations a Christian man committed blasphemy and uttered derogatory remarks against the Prophet. Subsequently, about 400 local Muslim protesters attacked and looted houses where Christians lived. More than 100 Christian families fled the area to save their lives. A group of angry individuals then surrounded the police station, and demanded a complaint be registered against Masih. To appease the crowd, police registered a blasphemy case against him. Police then arrested Masih and his cousin, who were already sitting in the police station to lodge their complaint with police against the attack. According to APMA, the police took Masih and his cousin into custody and tortured them brutally. Masih was subsequently sent to jail. In its news release, APMA stated that organizational lawyers have submitted a request to the police to pursue their case against those individuals who harassed and attacked the Christians in their homes. The Christians in the areas are still in fear, although heavy police contingents are deployed at the area to avert any further unpleasant situation.

Please join with these suffering Christian brothers and sisters in their prayers that justice be done. Pray the Lord will surround Masih with His presence and the peace only He can give. Pray God will open the ears of the Muslims who have been deaf to His Word.

_________________
"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

Maria Samar John was bought by her husband, Abdul Ghaffar, and forced to convert to Islam. A year ago, he disappeared with their two toddler children, then 5-year-old Joshua and 3-year-old Mariam. Ghaffar left Lahore, Pakistan, with the children and there have been no new clues to their whereabouts since October 2nd last year when a judge issued a warrant for Ghaffar's arrest. "I miss them a lot and I have been weeping for them," John told Compass as she described the past year without Joshua and Miriam. "I pray to God for their safety and safe return."

Pray God will protect these innocent children and bring them home to their mother. Pray the Lord will reveal the whereabouts of Abdul Ghaffar and he will be brought to justice. Pray Jesus will make himself known and bring comfort to all women who suffer under the bondage of Islam.
_________________
"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

A Christian woman has accused three men of repeatedly raping her earlier this month and attempting to force her to convert to Islam, according to a September 27th report from Compass Direct. Testifying in court on September 22nd, Ribqa Masih (22) said Ghulam Abbas and Mohammad Kashif drugged her on September 2nd and took her to Lahore, approximately 100 km from her home. Upon arrival, she was repeatedly raped throughout the night. They threatened to kill her and her family if she did not recite the Islamic creed, which would have been considered an official conversion to Islam. She refused, saying she would rather die than renounce her faith. The next morning she was handed over to another man who was supposed to take her home. Instead, he raped her several times over the next three days. Finally on September 6th she was finally left at a bus stop in Faisalabad Ribqa hired a rickshaw to take her to her uncle's home where she called her parents. Only one man, Abbas, has been taken into custody, and he denies the charges. Ribqa still has difficulty walking because of her injuries. Many girls do not report rapes because of the impact on their family honor, which often is a matter of life and death in Pakistan. "Nobody wants to marry these girls, even though they are innocent," said Khalil Tahir, Masih's lawyer. Father Paschal Paulus, her priest, credits the family for their willingness to stand with Ribqa. Her six younger siblings have been forced to leave school because of taunts and threats. The family has also been threatened by Muslim neighbors if they do not drop the charges.

Pray God will send His holy angels to protect this family. Pray the Lord will give them courage and confidence in the Rock of their salvation. Pray God will work a miracle of His loving compassion to bring these men to repentance.

_________________
"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

At least 450 Christian families have fled the village of Sangla Hill, Nakana district in the Punjab region of Pakistan after an angry mob, estimated around 2,000 Muslims, vandalized and set fire to buildings. The Christian families have not yet returned for fear of further violence. Qaiser Felix reports three churches, a nuns' convent, two Catholic schools, the houses of a Protestant pastor and a parish priest, a girls' hostel, and some Christian homes were first vandalized and then set on fire by the angry mob. The violence took place November 13th, and was apparently motivated by an alleged case of blasphemy against the Muslim Koran. On Friday November 11th, Yousaf Masih, a Christian, allegedly burned some copies of the Koran and disappeared. One of his brothers, Salim Masih, was arrested the day before. The Commission of Justice and Peace in Lahore said the blasphemy accusations were false: The accusers had economic problems to sort out with the families they accused. Saqib Sohail Bhatti, a Christian general councilor of Sangla Hill, told Asia News the accusations were false: "Yousaf Masih is an illiterate person and cannot distinguish the Koran from any other book." The Justice and Peace Commission issued a statement saying "the local police seem to be party in this act of terror and using religion for hatred against the religious minorities," thus, "an immediate judicial inquiry should be called to establish the causes, effects, and responsibility of these shameful incidents. Moreover, a strict action should be taken against the policemen for their criminal negligence."

Pray Christians worldwide will intercede for this community. Pray God will give Pakistani Christians courage, boldness and love toward Muslims. Pray the Lord will convict Muslims of His mercy toward them and reveal His eternal truth.

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"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

Violent protests against the cartoons of Mohammad that targeted Western businesses and institutions have spread to Christians who are seen as followers of a Western religion. Please pray for the following:


On February 13th, Muslim college students and Islamic militants vandalized missionary-run Edward's College in Peshawar, smashing windows in various buildings. Two days later protestors in Peshawar damaged St. Michael's Convent School, St. Elizabeth's Girls' College, and a mission hospital run by the Church of Pakistan. A United Presbyterian girls' school in Kasur was also damaged by a mob of several thousand Muslims. (VOM Canada)
A crowd of Muslims in the southern province of Sindh, burned down two churches and a convent school February 22nd, reportedly over an incident of Koran desecration. Local sources said the violence occurred after a Muslim was arrested for allegedly burning pages of the Koran and trying to frame his Christian father-in-law. (Compass Direct)
Yousaf Masih, a Christian detained on blasphemy charges, has been released on bail. Two days later, 65 of 85 Muslims, detained for the assault on churches in Sangla Hill, were also released. The blasphemy charge against Masih, a semi-illiterate farm hand, provoked a mob of 2,000 Muslims to attack and set fire to three churches, a convent, two schools, a hostel for girls and several Christian homes. (Religion Today)

Pray Christians in Pakistan will bless the Lord with their faithful witness to His amazing love for His enemies. Pray moderate Muslims all over the world will speak up in protest against the evil violence of Islamic extremists. Give thanks to God Yousaf Masih has been released, and pray God will protect him from any retaliation by the Muslims.

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"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

On March 3rd, two Muslim seminarians in Pakistan's Punjab province were found guilty today of murdering a Pakistani Christian, who died 22 months ago after being tortured to convert to Islam. Before a courtroom packed with Islamic madrassa students and police, Judge Javed Iqbal Warraich sentenced Maulvi Ghulam Rasool and Mohammed Tayyab to 25 years in prison for their part in torturing and killing Catholic university student Javed Anjum. Prosecution lawyer Khalil Tahir Sindhu told Compass he was pleased with the verdict, but he would appeal for the sentence to be changed to the death penalty.

Praise God for this sign of His justice. Give thanks for the courageous judge who pronounced this sentence before a courtroom full of madrassa students and police. Pray the two guilty men will have an opportunity to hear and believe the Good News of Jesus' love and forgiveness.

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"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

Nasser Bib, a Christian woman charged with desecrating a poster of Khana Kaba, the Muslim holy place in Saudi Arabia, was released from jail on bail on April 22nd, after posting surety bonds of 50,000 rupees ($832,628 U.S.). According to the Pakistan Christian Post (PCP), she was arrested March 3, 2006, under Section 295b & c of Pakistan Penal Code on Muslims' accusations that she had desecrated a flyer of Khana Kaba. PCP quoted Naseem Bibi as telling Sohail Johnson, the coordinator of Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan: "I love Jesus Christ…. I often saw Him in my dreams. Jesus met me many times in my dreams and showed His love to me." Naseem Bibi is the mother of four children. Her youngest child is only 7 months old. She has taken refuge in Lahore with her husband and children for their physical safety, as attacks by Muslim extremists are feared if she moves to her home in Kasur district, the PCP reports.

Give thanks and praise to God for Naseem Bibi's release. Pray our heavenly Father will protect her and her family and Jesus will continue to comfort her in dreams. Pray that whoever desecrated the poster and accused her will repent and come to know the forgiveness of Jesus.

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"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

Freed on bail, a Pakistani man charged with raping Ribqa Masih has continued to threaten the young Christian woman who accused him of pressuring her to convert to Islam by violating her. "I'm afraid to go outside," said Masih before breaking into tears. "Mentally, I've been too disturbed to study." Masih had finished her high school examinations and was awaiting the results in September 2005, when wealthy Muslim neighbors in this town near Faisalabad kidnapped and raped her, she said. Among them was Muhammad Kashif, who was granted bail on a technicality the law gives to criminal suspects suffering from illness. His illness is psoriasis. "Psoriasis did not stop him from raping Masih," said Khalil Tahir Sindhu, Masih's lawyer. Nor did it keep Kashif from fleeing police in a Faisalabad courtroom last October when his initial request for pre-arrest bail was rejected.

Give thanks to God that Masih was willing to testify to the suffering she endured at the hands of Muslim men. Pray Jesus Himself will comfort her and take away her fears. Pray the men who violated her will repent of their actions and seek the only One who can truly forgive them.

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"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

On June 6, 2006, Nasir Ashraf, a Christian stone mason, was brutally attacked just outside Lahore. While working while working on the construction of a room at a school near Manga Mandi in Pakistan, Nasir became thirsty and took a break. He drew water and drank from a glass chained to a cemented public water tank next to a mosque which was reserved for "all" poor people. Returning to the construction site, a Muslim man asked him, "Why did you drink water from this glass since you are a Christian?" The man accused Nasir of polluting the glass. The Muslim man yanked the glass off the iron chain, broke it and threw it in a garbage can. The man summoned other militant Muslims to the scene, furiously saying, "This Christian polluted our glass." Hearing this, the incensed mob began beating Nasir, yelling that a Christian dog drank water from their glass. The militant Muslims encouraged bystanders to beat Nasir because it would be a "good" deed that would benefit them in heaven. The attackers pushed Nasir off a ledge onto the ground. The impact of the fall dislocated his shoulder and broke his collar bone in two places. Nasir was knocked unconscious and he did not regain his senses until he reached a clinic. A doctor told Nasir that some people had brought him there. The doctor advised Nasir to never make this kind of mistake again. Nasir's father took him home and a VOM representative was alerted about the incident. VOMedical is helping with Nasir's medical treatment and is monitoring his recovery from the attack. Pray for Nasir that he will be able to forgive his enemies. Pray the Lord will bring justice in this situation.

(Compass Direct)
A Christian girl has gone into hiding in Pakistan to escape Muslim in-laws who beat and raped her for fleeing her forced marriage and refusing to practice Islam. Asya Khadim, 15, won a divorce from her abusive Muslim husband in February and sought shelter with a local aid organization to avoid reprisal attacks. Khadim had been married to Tanveer Qadir for almost 13 months when her mother filed the divorce case on her behalf in January 2006. "They tried to force me to read the Koran," the Christian girl told Compass. "My husband beat me every day for two months because I refused." Khadim's case highlights ongoing national debate over the controversial Hudood Ordinances that some say encourage domestic violence against women. Under this law, a woman who has been raped must produce four Muslim male witnesses to prove the allegations. According to the Peace Council of Pakistan, at least 50 percent of women who report rape are jailed and accused of adultery.

Pray God will comfort Asya Khadim and keep her safe. Pray our omnipotent Father will put a stop to the Hudood Ordinances. Pray our God of love will remove Muslim authorities' hearts of stone and give them hearts of flesh.

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"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

In an attempted land-grab, Muslim attackers have terrorized a predominantly Christian village in Pakistan's Punjab province over the past two weeks and demolished its church. Three Christian men were hospitalized with serious hatchet wounds from an initial August 7th attack on a village 20 miles southwest of Lahore. The Muslim aggressors, led by Yaqoob Maher, came from a neighboring village. Another critically injured Christian, Bashir Masih, was abducted and remains missing since a second assault on the village on August 12th, when he tried to stop armed attackers from stealing his cattle. When Christian villagers tried to file an official complaint against the assailants, Sharaqpur police instead filed an official complaint against 10 of the villagers, accusing the Christians of "opening fire" on Maher.

Pray the power of the Holy Spirit will give these villagers boldness and zeal for the Lord, not allowing the Muslims to have victory over their minds. Pray the Lord will keep Bashir Masih safe and quickly return him to his village. Pray for the Muslims whose eyes have been blinded by the enemy of their souls.

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"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.

The Christian ex-wife of a Pakistani Muslim who abducted their young children from court custody two years ago cajoled him into meeting her last week in a Lahore park, where police arrested him. Accusing Maria Samar John of trying to convert the children to Christianity, Abdul Ghaffar had kidnapped his then 5-year-old son, Joshua, and 3-year-old daughter, Miriam, during a supervised parental visit within the Lahore Family Court premises on September 13, 2004. A police investigation had netted no tangible clues on Ghaffar's whereabouts. Lahore's Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement, which had sheltered John from her abusive husband since 2000, after she fled the forced marriage, reached a breakthrough last month when they traced Ghaffar's telephone number. After his arrest, Ghaffar told police a religious dispute was at the heart of the custody fight. "Maria was trying to convert my children to Christianity, so I abducted them," he said. At the time of this news release the children were with their paternal grandparents, but the police are looking for them and will return them to Maria. Under Pakistani divorce laws, children remain in their mother's custody until age 12, when the father has the right to claim guardianship. The court has a criminal complaint against Ghaffar, so Maria and the children will also have to appear. It is possible that Ghaffar's influential family might exert heavy pressures on the court.

Pray God will protect the children and reunite them with their mother. Pray for a miracle of God's grace to take away the trauma these children have suffered and replace it with joy and hope. Pray the Holy Spirit will bring Ghaffar to repentance and cause him to have a compelling desire to know Jesus.

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"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"

A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.