By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ISLAMABAD (Worthy News) - Pakistani authorities have detained two Christian men for allegedly desecrating the Koran after some 2,000 Muslim extremists demanded tougher actions against Christians accused of blasphemy, Worthy News learned Tuesday.
Supporters of the hardline Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) group gathering in Sargodha city also demanded the release of 160 Muslims arrested following the destruction of churches and Christian homes in the Jaranwala area on August 16.
“Under the influence of this Islamic extremist group, the police have been apprehending Christians, even in the absence of concrete evidence against them,” said human rights activist Farrukh Saif.
Two Christians, Zimraan George and Akash Masih, found themselves under arrest for allegedly desecrating the Koran, he told Worthy News. “Their apprehension serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerable position that Christians find themselves in within Pakistan’s socio-political landscape,” added Saif.
Despite the tensions, hundreds of Christians who fled near Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, on Friday have since returned, said Saif, co-founder of the Emergency Committee to Save the Persecuted and Enslaved (ECSPE).
Almost all Christians of a Christian colony in the city of Rawalpindi, which is adjacent to Islamabad, had left fearing similar attacks as in Jaranwala, Saif told Worthy News.
He also clarified that the man who was shot and killed for publicly expressing support for the Jaranwala Christians was a Muslim despite reports to the contrary.
MUSLIM ENTREPRENEUR
He said Malik Ejaz, a Muslim entrepreneur in the city of Kot Abdul Malik in Sheikhupura District, was shot and killed on August 18 by a Muslim mob who also ransacked his house.
They were outraged after Ejaz wondered on his Facebook website page why Muslims were angry as they and Christians both anticipate “the second coming” of Jesus. However, Muslims only view Him as a prophet.
Saif expressed concern that caretaker Prime Minister Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar’s pledge to protect all minorities, including Christians, has done little to ease tensions.
Kakar promised to take action against those involved in the August 16 violence in Jaranwala, with his government promising 2 million rupees ($6,800) for Christians who suffered in the attacks.
But Saif, whose organization supports Christian families, suggested that the government help shouldn’t be taken seriously.
“A staggering count of 24 churches and 87 houses were ruthlessly vandalized and set ablaze. This incident marked a stark manifestation of the deep-seated intolerance that continues to plague the [Islamic] nation.”
He added that besides the violence, Jaranwala, which was also sparked by allegations that two Christian men tore pages of the Koran, and this weekend’s protest and arrests were no isolated events. “The shadow of Christian persecution looms large. “The month of August alone witnessed a distressing surge in ‘First Information Reports’ (FIRs)” the name for criminal investigations “filed against Christians across Pakistan,” recalled Saif.
“Among these cases was one registered on August 25th in Sargodha city, nestled within the province of Punjab. Allegedly, Muslim cleric Azhar Abbas and a handful of local Muslims claimed to have stumbled upon torn pages of the Koran on the mosque’s staircase during their morning prayers. This discovery led to the immediate filing of an FIR against unidentified individuals involved,” Saif added.
BLASPHEMY LEGISLATION
He and other human rights campaigners have linked the uproar to controversial blasphemy legislation that has seen hundreds of people being detained, many of them Christians.
Often, people languish for years in Pakistan’s notorious prisons on charges of blasphemy against Islam, which potentially carries the death penalty.
While there was no known case of execution by authorities for blasphemy, scores of people have been killed by angry mobs or otherwise over blasphemy allegations, rights groups say.
Among the most high-profile officials being killed in 2011 was
Shahbaz Bhatti, the minority affairs minister and the only Christian member of the cabinet, had criticized the blasphemy legislation.
He was driving from his mother's house in Islamabad when gunmen pumped more than 20 bullets through the door and windshield of his car, according to eyewitnesses and the police.
The gunmen then calmly dropped dozens of flyers at the scene that threatened the same fate to anyone who criticizes laws supported by Pakistan's religious political parties but widely condemned by secular Pakistanis as tools to persecute religious minorities.
"This is a lesson to the world of infidel crusaders and Jews, and their allies in the Muslim world," the pamphlet said, signed by the previously unknown group Movement of Taliban al Qaeda in Punjab.
Bhatti's assassination came after that of Punjab governor Salman Taseer, another outspoken critic, in early January. Their killings were seen as deep blows to this fragile country and reopened wounds that have been difficult to heal.