Pakistan minority leaders condemn arson attacks on churches
-16/11/05
Church leaders a
Pakistan minority leaders condemn arson attacks on churches
-16/11/05
Church leaders and representatives of other Pakistani minority communities have united to denounce a series of arson attacks on churches and Christian settlements in the rural town of Sangla Hill in the Punjab province.
A violent mob destroyed church and school buildings over the weekend, after Muslim clerics claimed a Christian had burnt pages of the Qurían and called on their followers to “take revenge”.
But Shahbaz Bhatti, chair of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, denied the abuse claim.
“This was a blatant act of religious terrorism,” he said. “It was organised by an Islamist extremist group who had designs on destroying the Christian community. The police stood by and ignored pleas for help, meaning that they too are culprits.”
“The ferocity of the attacks has left us stunned,” leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Pakistan, the Presbyterian Church, the Salvation Army and the ecumenical National Council of Churches in Pakistan said in a letter on Monday to President Pervez Musharraf.
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 rectories.
The assaults are said to be the worst against Pakistan’s Christian community since 2002, when extremists led an assault on a church with grenades on Christmas Day at Chianwala, 40 miles north of Lahore. Three young girls were killed.
On Sunday and Monday Christian leaders from across Pakistan gathered in Sangla Hill to show support for victims of the attacks and to criticise the government for lack of action following a spate of incidents over the past few years.
The police said they had arrested about 90 people for rioting, violence and vandalising Christian property.
Yousaf Masih, a Christian accused of desecrating the Qurían, has been detained. Under the countryís much criticised blasphemy law, this crime carries the death sentence.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has pledged to crack down on violent militants who attack churches.
[Also on Ekklesia: Churches seek hope in face of the Delhi bomb blasts; Bangladesh Christian leader gives stark bomb blast warning; Pakistani Christians fear passport identification]
Pakistan minority leaders condemn arson attacks on churches
-16/11/05
Church leaders and representatives of other Pakistani minority communities have united to denounce a series of arson attacks on churches and Christian settlements in the rural town of Sangla Hill in the Punjab province.
A violent mob destroyed church and school buildings over the weekend, after Muslim clerics claimed a Christian had burnt pages of the Qur’an and called on their followers to “take revenge”.
But Shahbaz Bhatti, chair of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, denied the abuse claim.
“This was a blatant act of religious terrorism,” he said. “It was organised by an Islamist extremist group who had designs on destroying the Christian community. The police stood by and ignored pleas for help, meaning that they too are culprits.”
“The ferocity of the attacks has left us stunned,” leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Pakistan, the Presbyterian Church, the Salvation Army and the ecumenical National Council of Churches in Pakistan said in a letter on Monday to President Pervez Musharraf.
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 rectories.
The assaults are said to be the worst against Pakistan’s Christian community since 2002, when extremists led an assault on a church with grenades on Christmas Day at Chianwala, 40 miles north of Lahore. Three young girls were killed.
On Sunday and Monday Christian leaders from across Pakistan gathered in Sangla Hill to show support for victims of the attacks and to criticise the government for lack of action following a spate of incidents over the past few years.
The police said they had arrested about 90 people for rioting, violence and vandalising Christian property.
Yousaf Masih, a Christian accused of desecrating the Qur’an, has been detained. Under the country’s much criticised blasphemy law, this crime carries the death sentence.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has pledged to crack down on violent militants who attack churches.
[Also on Ekklesia: Churches seek hope in face of the Delhi bomb blasts; Bangladesh Christian leader gives stark bomb blast warning; Pakistani Christians fear passport identification]