Summary
In the
past 10 months (May 2005 to February 2006), the places of
worship and properties of religious minorities are
increasingly becoming target by the extremist attacks and
grabbing of properties in Pakistan.
During this period, at least 7 Churches, 7 houses
belonging to the religious minorities, 3 Pastors houses,
1 Convent, 1 girl's hostel and a dispensary run by nuns,
7 Church-run schools, a college of the Christian
community, a place of worship of Ahmadis, a Temple of
Hindus and 3 hospitals of the Christian community were
destroyed in various provinces and cities; a Hindu
couple, accused of blasphemy, lost their property; 10
persons belonging to religious minorities were killed, 27
individuals were booked under blasphemy laws; and
hundreds were harassed and injured by the fanatics in
different incidents.
While in many cases, the violence and attacks are
triggered by alleged religious accusation based on laws
and policy, the government has failed in addressing the
root causes of the religious intolerance. Hate speech
against non-Muslims through media is common at all levels
in the government approved curriculum and vernacular
media. The hate speeches are also delivered from the
mosque's pulpits.
After the continuous attacks on the places of worship and
properties of religious minorities, the atmosphere is
very tense and religious minorities feel insecure in the
country. The Church leaders (Bishops of the Catholic
Church and Protestant) met the authorities in February
2006, requesting them to protect religious minorities.
Local human rights organizations are also writing to the
authorities and organizing seminars, conferences and
interfaith consultations on "Protection of religious
minorities" in March, requesting and demanding the
authorities to look into the miserable situation of
religious minorities, ensure the protection of their
places of worship and properties and take immediate
action against the culprits.
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Sample
Letter
We write with deep concern about the
insecurity of religious minorities in Pakistan,
where their places of worship and properties are
increasingly becoming target of religious
extremists.
From May 2005 to February 2006, at least 7
Churches, 7 houses belonging to the religious
minorities, 3 Pastors houses, 1 Convent, 1 girl's
hostel and a dispensary run by nuns, 7 Church-run
schools, a college of the Christian community, a
place of worship of Ahmadis, a Temple of Hindus
and 3 hospitals of the Christian community were
destroyed in various provinces and cities; a
Hindu couple, accused of blasphemy, lost their
property; 10 persons belonging to religious
minorities were killed, 27 individuals were
booked under blasphemy laws; and hundreds were
harassed and injured by the fanatics in different
incidents.
Religious communities are profoundly shocked and
hurt by these heinous acts of destruction on
their sacred places of worship.
We appreciate the good attempt of your government
to bolster religious freedom by introducing new
procedures for the implementation of both the
blasphemy laws and the Hudood Ordinances, also by
the education reform of textbook. However, with
hate speech against non-Muslims common at all
levels in the government approved curriculum and
vernacular media, and the existance of
discriminatory legislation, the religious
intolerance and the frequency of violence against
the religious minorities in your country are
still growing.
To abide by the Article 36 and 37 of the
Constitution of Pakistan, which declares "protection
of religious minorities and promotion of social
justice and eradication of social evils",
and Article 3 & 18 of Universal Declaration
of Human Rights that emphasis on religious
freedom of an individual, we call for your
attention to the present alarming situation of
the religious minorities, and request your
government to:
- ensure the
protection of places of worship and
properties of religious minorities;
- take
strict action against those who preach
and wage violence against minority
religions;
- protect
the vulnerable religious minorities
through repealing the discriminatory laws
and practices that promote disharmony,
persecution and intolerance towards them.
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Background
Pakistan
is multi-religious country with majority (97%) of Muslims.
Religious minorities consist 3% of the total population,
include Christians, Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Behais and
Ahmadis. (The Ahmadis claim themselves to be Muslims but
were declared out of Islam through a constitutional
amendment in 1974).
The Constitution of Pakistan establishes Islam as the
state religion. Although it states that adequate
provisions should be made for minorities to profess and
practice their religions freely, the religious freedom is
severely restricted in practice.
The relationship between the religious communities is
tense: there is widespread discrimination towards
religious minorities and violence against them frequently
occurred.
Recent Attacks
From May 2005 to February 2006, the following incidents
took place against religious minorities in Pakistan by
religious extremists.
1. A mob set ablaze a temple of Hindu and destructed
housing locality of minority communities. The incident
followed a dubious allegation of desecration of the Holy
Quran, leveled against Yousaf Masih (60), in June 2005 at
Nowshera, a district of North West Frontier Province.
2. The police raided the Catholic Sisters' bookshop (Daughters
of St. Paul) at Karachi in June 2005, for allegedly
issuing literature or materials which hurts the feelings
or belief of other religion. Daughters of St. Paul (the
nuns) has been selling CDs, videos and Christian
literature and offering faith-enriching material about
Christian religion and moral teachings at Karachi since
1948.
3. In September 2005, the buses bringing the pilgrims (Christians)
were stopped by armed men at Mariamabad and the
passengers were robbed of their cash and valuables. The
next day dozens of police cadets were found present in
the compound reserved for the fair. They reportedly
harassed people by unlawful body search and forced
individuals to give bribe to them.
An annual pilgrimage is held at this village named after
Mother Mary, at district Nankana Sahib since 1949, to pay
homage to her.
4. Mr. Chaman Lal and his wife Krishna, a Hindu couple,
was charged under blasphemy laws, for allegedly
desecrating the Holy Quran. Their house was attacked and
destroyed by an Islamic group in September 2005, at
Swabi, a district of North West Frontier Province. They
lost their property and were forced to migrate to another
place.
5. Several houses of Christian minority were destroyed
and looted by the Islamic zealots at Lahore, after a
blasphemy allegation against a Christian, Younis Masih,
in September 2005.
6. 8 Ahmadis were killed and 14 others wounded at Mandi
Bahauddin near Lahore in October 2005, by unknown gunmen
in motorbikes while the Ahmadis were reciting prayers in
their place of worship.
7. A mob attacked and destroyed 3 Churches (Catholic,
Salvation Army and United Presbyterian), a Sisters'
Convent, St. Anthony's School building, a girl's Hostel,
a dispensary and a Pastor's house at Sangla Hills on 12
November 2005. About 450 Christian families living in
Sangla Hills left their homes.
The incident took place after an alleged desecration of
Holy Quran by Yousaf Masih, a Christian. The allegations
were motivated for settling scores regarding some money
dispute between the accusers and the accused and had
nothing to do with the alleged desecration.
8. A Catholic Church was attacked at Kawanlit, district
Sialkot on 3 February 2006. The furniture, windows and
religious books were destroyed. There was a dispute
between local Christians and Muslims on a piece of land.
The court issued the orders in favor of the Christians
and upon return from the Court's judgment, the Church was
attacked by the local Muslims. In this attack two elderly
women were badly injured. 70-year old Ms. Veero suffered
multiple fractures on both legs.
9. On 15 February 2006, St. Michael's Convent School,
Elizabeth Girls High School and Edward Boys College were
attacked and damaged by the religious zealots during
protests at Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier
Province. 3 mission hospitals at Peshawar, Bannu and
Mardan, were also pelted with stones.
10. On 18 February 2006, an award winning Christian
singer Mr. A Nayyar was stopped by a few young men in the
midnight in an apparent robbery bid. When they recognized
him, he was beaten, humiliated and asked to recite Kalama-Tayyaba
(Islamic proclamation of faith).
11. On 19 February, a mob attacked St. Mary's Church, St.
Xavier's Church and St. Mary's School at Sukkar (built in
1889). They stole valuable articles and set the Churches
and vehicles on fire, damaged a school hall and totally
destroyed a pastor's house. The attacks resulted from an
abuse of blasphemy laws as Mr. Irfan, a Muslim convert,
tried to implicate his Christian father-in-law, Mr.
Saleem, in burning a copy of Holy Quran. After the
investigation, Mr. Irfan, who set the ploy, confessed
that he was blameworthy instead of his Christian father-in-law.
Mr. Irfan is in police custody.
12. Some unidentified men set fire to a Church in
Sargodha on 28 Febuary. The fire damaged the main
entrance of the church.
Vulnerability of Religious Minority
The local groups believe that the discriminatory
legislation and the teaching of religious intolerance in
public schools have created a permissible environment for
the attacks. They also claim that the language which
government officials and employees use constitutes an
incitement to religious extremism.
The Ahmadis have to face legal bars to the practice of
their faith after being declared out of Islam through a
constitutional amendment in 1974. In 1984, the Government
added to the Penal Code Section 298(c), an Ahmadi-specific
law, which prohibits them from calling themselves Muslims
or referring to their faith as Islam, from preaching or
propagating their faith, from insulting the religious
feelings of Muslims, etc. According to an Ahmadis report,
11 Ahmadis were killed and 60 were subjected to charges
and penalties in religion-based cases in 2005.
Although other religious communities are able to worship
freely, there are discriminatory policies against them.
For example, the Hudood Ordinance impose elements of
Quranic law on both Muslims and non-Muslims; the
Blasphemy Laws provide death penalty for defiling Islam
or its prophets, life imprisonment for defiling, damaging
or desecrating the Quran, and 10 years' imprisonment for
insulting the religious feelings of any citizen. These
laws have a history of being abused to settle personal
scores. People accused of blasphemy normally faced
prolonged judicial procedure, and together with their
communities, often become the target of the extremists.
(More information about the victims of the Blasphemy Laws
and related injustices since 1998, are found in Hotline
Asia Urgent Appeals UA980505(3), UA000525(8), UA001103(16), UA010905(9), SUA010113(1), SUA010802(3) and UA051007(6).)
The hate speeches in media and curriculum are also
responsible for the growing religious intolerance in the
country.
The public school curriculum was Islamized during the
1980s. According to a local campaign group, the textbooks
flag conservative views towards other faiths, such as
those describing past efforts by Hindus and Christians to
antagonize Muslims, and emphasize the duty to battle
against perceived religious enemies, resulting in the
internalization of hate, anger and intolerance. Educators
and activists say serious revisions of school books are
essential to make a tolerant society.
All these local situation make it easy for extremists and
others to abuse religion for their own personal interests.
Thus Pakistan remains in a vulnerable position for
violence in the name of religion.
Source:
AsiaNews
International Religious Freedom Report 2005 (www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51621.htm)
Local Sources
South China Morning Post
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