Over fifty houses belonging to Christians and two churches have been burnt and ransacked by a mob of villagers near Toba Tek Singh and at least six people have been killed. The mob meted out the collective punishment on the ‘accusation’ that three Christians were allegedly seen desecrating pages of the Holy Quran.
The perpetrators committed this vile act in broad daylight as hapless homeowners ran for their lives. Ironically, instead of arresting the culprits, the police – under pressure from the mob – registered a blasphemy case against the three Christians!
However, the irony doesn’t end here. While Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif condemned this incident, he had himself presided over an important meeting of the ulema just four weeks before with a very different message. The meeting put out a joint proclamation stating that “.. whosoever is even slightly guilty of blasphemy against the Prophet – directly or indirectly – is an infidel, an apostate, and liable to be put to deathâ€. So why condemn now Mr. Chief Minister?
Further irony is that the above statement was part of a joint declaration prepared to condemn religious militant extremism! The Punjab government was so proud of bringing these progressive minded ulema together, that it published the declaration in newspapers. (Click here or on image to see larger version).
But the greatest irony of all is that those who were so perturbed by the alleged desecration of pages of Quran, shredded its entire message to pieces by destroying a place of worship.
This earlier report from Reuters gives more details of the incident:
Six Christians, including four women, were burned alive in clashes with majority Muslims in a town in central Pakistan on Saturday, officials said. Tension has been running high between the two communities in Gojra town in central Punjab province over allegations that Christians had desecrated a Koran.
Clashes erupted early on Saturday, with an exchange of fire from the members of the two communities. Television footage showed burning houses and streets strewn with blackened furniture and people firing at each other from their rooftops.
Shahbaz Bhatti, minister for minorities, said a mob “misled by religious extremists,” attacked a Christian neighborhood and torched dozens of houses. “We have received six bodies of people who died of burn injuries. They included four women, one man and one child,” Abdul Hamid, a Health Ministry official in the town told Reuters by telephone.
Rana Sanaullah, provincial minister for law, who is also responsible for security matters of Punjab, condemned the attack and said an inquiry had been ordered. However, he said, a preliminary investigation showed there was no desecration of the Koran. “It was just a rumor which was exploited by anti-state elements to create chaos,” he said. “I request both Muslim and Christian communities to show restraint,” Sanaullah said, adding the government would take strict action against rioters and also police who failed to stop the violence.
Pakistan is a predominantly Muslim nation and religious minorities, including Christians, account for roughly 4 percent of the 170 million population. Muslims and minorities largely live in harmony but there have been periodic attacks on Christian targets in Pakistan since it became a U.S. ally following the September 11 attacks on the United States.
As tensions have escalated, The News reports concern and statements from the Federal government, including the Interior Minister, Prime Minister and the President:
Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik Saturday took notice of violent incidents in Gojra and directed Punjab Inspector General to bring the situation under control. He also directed the Punjab government to improve the law and order situation in the province; he also directed Punjab IG to submit report on the Gojra violence. Urging the people to demonstrate patience, he maintained no one would be allowed to take law in his hand in the country. The interior minister expressed deep grief over the rampage and violence in Gojra, saying action will be taken against anyone involved in the gory incidents in Gojra.
In a separate news item in The News:
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani Saturday, taking notice of the Gojra’s violent incidents, ordered to initiate inquiry into the Gojra, sources said Saturday. President Asif Ali Zardari ordered to send Punjab Rangers to Gojra so that the situation could be normalized. Rehman Malik said Punjab Rangers will help police in bringing back the situation to normalcy, adding the government will take stringent action against those who are involved in worsening the situation. Zardari asked the interior ministry to cooperate with the government of Punjab for maintaining the law and order in the province.
Apparently this incident is a result of collaboration between banned organisation and Khadam e Ala’s local administration.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/08/200 982103859540338.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/columns/2009/08/090802_b aat_se_baat_zs.shtml
“It clearly shows that these christians were quite convinced that they could get away with this heinous crime.”
First of all, there is no proof; more importantly, the idea that a Christian in Pakistan would take the risk of getting into this much trouble for no reason is downright absurd. Even those who would be interested in doing something like this would have the common sense to not be at the receiving end of a violent mob.
More comments from the ATP Facebook Page:
– “There won’t be peace for as long as Pakistanis continue to engage in empty slogans. Notice how not a single Pakistani from Jamaat-i-Islami bothered to condemn these fanatics, yet they hold useless rallies condemning the Israeli slaughter of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Yeah I’m pretty ticked off when Muslims cry about being the victim yet have no problem inflicting atrocities upon their own minority groups. And people wonder why Christians from Muslim countries tend to hate Muslims????? I’m pretty sure there are some Pakistani Muslims who are expressing delight over this since they believe anyone who disrespects Islam deserves to be slaughtered, while ignoring the benevolence of the Prophet himself. Sad to see how Muslims have become now, especially in a country that was ironically created as a beacon of refuge for Indian Muslims. A Gujrat-type massacre could occur against Christians and Shi’as in Pak but no one would be outraged over it.”
– “Never in the history, a Muslim is charged with desecration of other holy texts like Bible, Veds and other Dharmics, but on the ther hands we have accused almost every society of desecrating our Holy Book. In the not so distant past, we have witnessed cases against Muslims (Shia in Parachinar 2007, Sunni, Deobandi in Chirar Sharif 1995, Barelvis in Chinyot 1991 etc), Christians, Hindus, Jews and any religion on the surface of the earth. Whether the offender is a powerful e.g. Gitmo officials or weak like Gojra residents. Question is, if we respect others, why dont they respect ours If they dont respect text of other religions then why they spare other texts? If they are outsiders then why our own sects are involved in the same crime? I want to say something more but unfortunately some Molvi will get me out of the Narrow Ciorcle of Islam, already over burdened by 2 billion poppulation.”
– “Simple formula, RESPECT each others’ beliefs”
– “The sick and most criminal part of it all seems (acc. DAWN), that it is all based not even on proof! and on top of that indiscriminate violence? (still can’t get over it)”
– “Patience and Respect for each other is in every religion then why we always crosses the limits. Why take up the laws by own when law agencies are there to deal. It is another day of shame for us to show that we are impatience. May God protect us in future from such incidence Amen!”
– “Sad day .. another chapter act of senseless violence let loose by bigots ..”
– “its all due to the jahil molvies of pakistan. i hate these jahil molvies.”
– “my dad says he once took my grandpa to a missionary hospital for an eye operation at that time Christians could also preach. in that hospital they used to give Christian literatures to Pakistani patients (us) and we would tear those literatures in front of their very eyes. but they never kept a grudge and treated us with full conviction.
And what did we do now? Another black spot for us”
I agree with Adnan Siddiqi.
We must punish teh criminals who did this. And if it is proven that there was actual desecration of the Quran, then that must also be punished. That is what is fair in the law.
But, yes, since the murders and fire is a proven fact we shoudl start by punishing that immediately because that is criminal behavior.