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On
August 1, Islamists set ablaze about 47 Christian houses
in village Korian District Toba Tek Singh on Thursday,
July 30, 2009 after accusing local Christians of
blasphemy. Asia Evangelical Alliance has condemned the
shocking attack against the Christian community in
Gojra, in the province of Faisalabad in eastern Punjab
which left eight people, including two children, dead.
According to reports released by Center for Legal Aid
Assistance and Settlement, a Pakistani faith based Human
Right agency, the blasphemy charges were leveled against
a young Christian boy, Imran Masih, and his father Talib
Masih. Talib Masih is an illitrate scrap collector
ignorantly brought home a piece of paper that had
Quranic verses written on it, along with some other old
and used papers from the villages. Some local Muslims
alleged that Talib’s children ripped apart the paper of
Holy Quran.
Angered by the incident, over 800 Muslims from nearby
villages were armed with firearms and explosives,
attacked the Christians of the village incited further
by broadcasts from local mosques. The Christian
residents fled to safety as Muslim clerics announced
their verdict to “kill the blasphemers.” Local reports
suggest that some young Christian girls are also missing
from the village. The Christian houses were completely
gutted The Muslim mob also took away Christians’ cattle
with them. Muslim extremist also attacked the New
Apostolic Church and the Church of Pakistan in the
village and had desecrated and ransacked the other
churches.
After the latest massacre, the Chief Minister of Punjab,
Shahbaz Sharif, appointed a committee of inquiry and
announced compensation of 500,000 rupees for the
relatives of the victims.
Similar episodes of violence broke out in the towns of
Shantinagar in 1997, and Shangla Hill in 2005. Just last
month, accusations of blasphemy triggered violence in
four different towns in Punjab. On Tuesday (August 4),
two people were killed in the town of Muridke after a
similar accusation was raised.
Christians of Pakistan are the largest religious
minority in the country. In 2008, they were estimated to
make up about 1 percent of the population, but Christian
leaders argue the number is closer to 5 percent. More
than 90 percent of the country’s Christians live in
Punjab, which makes them the largest religious minority
in the province.
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