Recently in Pakistan Category

"While India is constantly berated for having severe problems with an amorphous communalism, Pakistan is rarely brought to task over this same standard." "Cleansing Hindus From Pakistan," by Rabir Singh for Conservative Papers, February 12:

In his 1993 BBC television series Akbar S Ahmed, former ambassador from Pakistan to Britain and presently Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at the American University in Washington DC, stated that Jinnah had created Pakistan so that India's Muslims could be "safe from Hindu reaction". But he has remained largely silent on the Hindus of Pakistan who have been the victims of Islamic 'reaction', aside from a few meaningless platitudes towards communal harmony. In this he is far from alone.

When British India was partitioned in 1947 Hindus and Sikhs constituted about twenty percent of the population in what is now Pakistan. Now it is barely one percent. This is a demographic catastrophe which has hardly warranted attention in the media, or from human rights groups and other NGOs. While India is constantly berated for having severe problems with an amorphous communalism, Pakistan is rarely brought to task over this same standard. In one way however Pakistan can be said to have resolved the communal issue; by simply having negligible numbers of minorities to strive for equal rights.

The constitution and legal system created for Pakistan openly discriminated against Hindus with a high level of crime and harassment against them. This was exacerbated by periods of tension between India and Pakistan which were always the worst times for Hindus in Pakistan, with large numbers killed and expelled by pogroms by the majority community who were supported by their government. In 1965 The Enemy Property Act was passed, which openly legitimized the confiscation of the property of Hindus whether it was their homes or temples that were destroyed and helped to further reduce the Hindu population in Pakistan.

This was dwarfed by the war of secession which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh. A huge undocumented number of Hindus were massacred by the Pakistani army in which the estimated death toll was probably three million.

At independence India chose a secular constitution. Admittedly, along with its parliamentary democracy, has met with varying degrees of success. But it has endured. India has had heads of state which come from minority communities and minorities are active in many spheres notably government service, cinema, music, academia, the media and sport. Pakistan however chose a stridently theocratic form of government right from its inception, in which anyone not adhering to the majority faith and the being part of the majority community was always going to be suspect. By stating that the head of state had to be Muslim that built uncompromising discrimination into the constitution itself.

The pandering to extreme religious intolerance by the secular whisky-drinking Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was taken to new levels by his nemesis General Zia ul-Haq who introduced Islamicisation programmes which utterly changed the nature of the country. The injection of despotic legal changes such as the Hudood Ordinance, Blasphemy Law, Sharia law and a host of other procedures mitigated against democracy and reduced women, Christians, Hindus, and Ahmadis to lesser citizenship. This was the time when Saudi influence made itself felt ideologically through Wahhabism as madrasas proliferated and the centuries-long native Sufi tradition of Madhu Lal Hussein, Bulley Shah and Waris Shah was smothered. Under the 1973 constitution Bhutto made Islam the state religion of Pakistan and established a separate electorate for Muslims and non-Muslims so that Hindus could only vote for Hindu candidates. The majority community could therefore ignore the minority Hindus with impunity. Musharraf abolished the separate electoral system in 2002. It is ironic how a democratic 'socialist' leader promoted discriminatory legislation which was only later rescinded by a military dictatator who had seized power from an elected government. Even so, in Pakistan's political system, the minorities, such as Hindus, Christians and Sikhs remain outcasts.

Pakistan is home to some 2.5 million Hindus, 95% of them living in the southern Sindh province. Most are poor peasants living as serfs on the estates of landlords, similar to the caste from which the Bhuttos hailed. However there are also some successful some businessmen. In Sindh, they are a hot commodity for bandits. They have become increasingly subject to kidnapping for ransom which the largely impoverished members of the community can ill afford. Rape, forcible and pressurised conversion to Islam have also become a matter of course for Hindus living in that oppressive state. As with kidnapping the conversion of Hindus is a profitable business in this country.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan stated in 2010 stating that at least twenty-five Hindu girls are abducted in Pakistan every month. In July of that year around sixty members of the minority Hindus in Karachi were attacked and ethnically cleansed when a Hindu youth drank from a water tap near an Islamic mosque. But even more sinister plans have been afoot. Hindu minorities under Taliban rule in Swat were forced to wear red headgear such as turbans as a symbol of their inferior status. Promulgation that Hindus are inferior is however the norm as it is officially sanctioned in textbooks used in governments schools. In November 2011 the US Commission on International Religious Freedom warned that text books in Pakistani schools foster prejudice and intolerance of Hindus and other religious minorities, while most teachers view non-Muslims as "enemies of Islam". In the words of its chairman Leonard Leo:

"Teaching discrimination increases the likelihood that violent religious extremism in Pakistan will continue to grow, weakening religious freedom, national and regional stability, and global security"

In 2006 the last Hindu temple in Lahore was demolished to make way for commercial development. In Dera Ismail Khan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a group has illegally acquired the 700-year-old Kali Bari Mandir and is now using it as a hotel. The issue of Kali Bari is not an isolated example. In Islamabad, Hindus have no access to a temple situated at Saidpur model village. Meanwhile the Raam Kunday Mandir in Islamabad, once considered a sacred site by Hindus, is being converted into a picnic spot. Eminabad in Gujranwala region has several temples dating back to the 15th century, which are in shambles today. Most of them are being used as stables to provide shelter to donkeys, horses and other animals. In Punjab's Bakkar city, Sheeran Wali Mandir has been used by Islamic clerics as a madrasa. Nearly 360 sacred Hindu sites are located in Pakistan, including Hanglaj Maata Mandir in Balochistan, Sadho Beela Mandir in Sindh, Hanuman Mandir in Kotri, Kali Ma and Shiva Mandir in Punjab's Imanabad, Ganga Khogi in Saidan Shah Punjab, Kali Bari Mandir and Kala Sathi Kewal Raam in Dera Ismail Khan, Raam Takht in Swat and a Shiva Mandir in Mansehra. But neither is the government ready to ensure the upkeep of these sites, nor is it willing to hand them back to the Hindu community. At a wider level cultural prejudice has become part and parcel of language itself. Hindus are referred to as "na pak." Na means "un" and pak means "pure." Given that the word "pak" is part of the word "Pakistan" -- which means Land of the Pure -- somebody's impurity suggests that they are not really Pakistani. So the 'impure' Hindus are not seen as belonging to the country.

Under these circumstances it is no surprise that those Hindus which were not forcibly expelled from Pakistan on its creation in 1947 have decided to leave, mainly for neighbouring India. In the wake of the world's silence on their systematic persecution they decide as with previous generations to vote with their feet, denied as they are an equal voice in Pakistan's shaky quasi-democratic process. In doing so they make immense contributions to their new host countries where they can at least breath the air of freedom.

One thinks of the prosperous Sindhi community which was uprooted en masse from their native homeland in 1947. But we must also remember filmstars Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, and Sunil Dutt who trace their birthplaces and ancestral homes to Pakistan. Independent India's first Test cricket captain, Lala Amarnath hailed from Lahore, prime ministers I K Gujral and Manmohan Singh are also from the part of what is now the province of Punjab in Pakistan. Former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani was born in Karachi. Nearly all of these individuals left their homes due to the violence and turmoil of independence setting what seems like a precedent for future generations of Hindus in Pakistan who will complete the exodus from lands that were once an integral part of Hindu culture and ancient Indian civilisation.

While western democracies are keen to ignore what they brush off as a 'Hindu' problem the events in neighbouring India should give us cause for concern. Those who are keen to promote the cause of Kashmiri 'freedom' such as the Conservative Party Chair Baroness Sayeeda Warsi conveniently ignore the rather inconvenient fact that this would bring death and destruction to Hindus, just as she and other powerful voices avert their gaze from how almost the entire indigenous Pandit community was ethnically cleansed from the Vale of Kashmir by mujahadeen at gunpoint in 1989. To this day they eke out a miserable existence in refugee camps in Jammu.

The Pakistan backed Kashmiri terrorists have since extended their massacres and atrocities to Hindus, Sikhs and Christians in the whole region. With Pakistan a hotbed for terrorism, awash as it is with weapons and drugs to compliment the intolerance and sense of general hopelessness, with neighbouring Afghanistan due to fall once again to the Taliban once NATO forces withdraw, Iran developing a nuclear weapons programme, and Pakistan's imperial masters in Riyadh presently expanding their colonial interests using their Salafi minions in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria, western democracies should be very worried. Otherwise they will face a 'Hindu' future. As Pastor Martin Neimoller warned regarding his incarceration by the Nazis:

They came for the Communists, and I didn't object -- For I wasn't a Communist;
They came for the Socialists, and I didn't object -- For I wasn't a Socialist;
They came for the labour leaders, and I didn't object -- For I wasn't a labour leader;
They came for the Jews, and I didn't object -- For I wasn't a Jew;
Then they came for me - And there was no one left to object.

So who will there be to object when 'they' come after the western democracies and there are no Hindus left?

An extraneous criterion is giving Muslim students an edge over non-Muslims with higher marks. Putting displays of piety over competence: What could possibly go wrong? "Educational bias: Memorise the Quran for twenty extra marks," by Taha Siddiqi for the Express Tribune, February 8 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

LAHORE: Haroon Arif, a student from DG Khan in Punjab, could not get high enough marks to get into medical school. This is a standard situation for many young people in the country. What’s different here is that Haroon, who missed the grade by less than 0.1%, would have earned 20 extra marks if he was Hafiz-e-Quran. He tried to claim his knowledge of the Bible was equivalent, but this made no impact.

“I deserved it and yet just because I am Christian, I have been put at a disadvantage,” Haroon says.

He found out about the discrimination on viewing the results at his test centre last month.

“There was a separate column for Hafiz-e-Quran, and I found out that those who had memorised the holy book got 20 extra marks,” he adds.

Haroon got A grades in both matriculation and intermediate exams, but was an agonising 0.0255% behind the line for medical school in his final aggregate. This miniscule figure changed the course of his life.

“I know of students who did not perform well in the test and had lower marks in their matriculation and intermediate exams, but they got in, just because of these twenty marks,” he complains.

Haroon tried to show the university his three certificates in Bible education, but the authorities said they had no policy to accept these. Since Haroon’s parents are poor, his only hope was a government-run medical university, where fees are 10% of what private universities charge.

His father is a health worker and his mother a nurse. “I have seen my parents in this profession but only as support staff. Is that all Christians are destined to do?” he asks.

If the Islamic supremacists have their way, yes.

Haroon refused to give up. “My father could not afford a lawyer so I decided to approach a human rights organisation, who advised me to go to the courts for help.”

In his petition, Haroon maintained that under Article 25 his rights have been violated, as no person should be denied the same protection which is enjoyed by other citizens of Pakistan. Along with his documents, he submitted two letters, one from the Church of Pakistan and the other from the Bishop of Islamabad, clearly stating that Haroon’s religious education is at par with any Islamic education.

“Despite all relevant documents from competent authorities, the courts did not acknowledge this as a human rights issue,” says Peter Jacob, head of the organisation
Haroon approached. “They are passing the matter on to the next authority, and we have been unable to get any positive response from anywhere,” Peter says, adding that there is a policy vacuum as the government never addresses educational bias.

The University of Health Sciences, which conducts the medical tests, seems to think it is not its domain to make policy.

“This is a sensitive religious issue, and we cannot change policy on our own. The same happens in engineering universities also, and it has been in place since the time of Zia-ul-Haq,” says Mohammad Atif, the head of public affairs at the university, adding that around 50 students were given 20 extra marks this year since they were Hafiz-e-Quran....

The perpetrators' sense of entitlement to control in the name of Islam's strict separation of the sexes had been somehow challenged. The men's attitudes were surely informed by Qur'an 4:34's endorsement of the idea of violence (yes, violence) to control disobedient women, as they were also already beating their wives.

When violence doesn't "work" to the satisfaction of the one throwing the punches, it tends to escalate. The final result was a triple homicide. "‘Honour’ crime: Three women killed ‘for loose morals’," by Owais Jaffery and Tariq Ismaeel for the Express Tribune, February 5:

Kot Chuttha police have arrested a man who has admitted to killing his wife, Samina, her sister (his brother’s wife) and their mother in collusion with his brother in a Dera Ghazi Khan village.

Talking to The Express Tribune at the police station, Ismaeel said he did not believe he had committed a crime. “My wife and her sister (his brother’s wife) had loose morals. They deserved death. I can’t let my wife talk to other men,” he said. He said he had caught Samina (his wife) talking to a man over cell phone.

The suspect said he and his brother, Imran, had shot and killed Samina and Zarmina, their wives, and their mother, Kulsoom, on Friday night. “Their mother was to blame for it.

She had failed to raise her daughters in accordance with our traditions. I had warned her (mother-in-law) several times to control her daughters,” he said.

According to the FIR registered on a complaint filed by the father of the deceased sisters, Mukhtar, the suspects had came to his house on Friday night to ask their wives to return home with them.

Mukhtar said Samina and Zarmina had left their husbands’ home a week ago and had been living at their parents’ house in Basti Damraywala. He said his daughters had married the suspects about six months ago. He said whenever the deceased visited him they complained about their husbands’ behaviour. “They would always complain about their husbands beating them and quarreling with them,” he said.

During Friday’s visit, Mukhtar said, the suspects had started quarrelling with his daughters and their mother over their refusal to accompany them back home. “I was in a room next door and could hear the arguments,” he said.

Suddenly, he said, he heard gunshots and the women’s cries. “They had killed my daughters and wife. There was no way I could defend myself against them so I thought the best course was to escape and report the matter to the police,” he said. “I rushed out of the house by jumping over the back wall to escape,” he said.

Talking to the Tribune, several residents of Basti Damraywala said whenever the suspects came to visit their in-laws they would complain about their wives’ conduct.

SHO Malik Ramazan said a police team had caught Ismael on Saturday while he was trying to escape to the Tribal Area adjacent to Dera Ghazi Khan.

He said two police teams were raiding the nearby villages to arrest his brother.

Remember: this is the kind of world the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) wants you to live in. This is the kind of world that all pro-Sharia advocates, and all opponents of anti-Sharia laws, want you to live in: a world in which a text message that a pious believer thinks is offensive against some aspect of Islam can land you in jail. This is the coming tyranny.

"Text messages: Police arrest security guard of factory," from The Express Tribune, February 4 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

KARACHI: The police have arrested a young man for allegedly using offensive language against the companions of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).

The suspect, identified as 20-year-old Mujahid, was associated with a private security company and posted at a biscuit factory in Korangi from where he was arrested.

Korangi Industrial Area SHO Malik Ayub told The Express Tribune that a man named Zubair had approached the police, complaining that Mujahid had sent him the text message.

Malik said that Mujahid and Zubair were friends but belonged to different sects. They were working at the same factory but recently Zubair was transferred to another factory.

The police have registered a case under Section 298-A of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 28 of the Telegraph Act. Police have also seized their cell phones.

“It’s not a crime to marry the person we want to. But back home, our elders think women are their property. We can’t do things we want to do."

"Insult and honour: Tribal predators hunting down newlyweds in Karachi," from the Express Tribune, February 2 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

KARACHI: Back home, Z and N saw their siblings dragged outside, shot in broad daylight, and buried at night without a funeral—so that their family could continue to live with ‘honour’ in the village and amid the clan.

Now in Karachi, the couple hides in a one-room house in a wholly unfamiliar neighbourhood. They fear a similar fate.

“My family declared us karo kari just because I married of my own choice,” said 23-year-old Z, bursting into tears. “We have come to Karachi for protection.”

Couples who choose to marry of their own free will and in return are declared untouchables for ‘defaming’ the family name, are leaving their hometowns in rural Sindh to seek refuge in the metropolis. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan states that during the last two months, around five married couples have fled to Karachi from Jacobabad, Larkana and Sukkur. Z who hails from Naudero, and her husband from Shikarpur, are the fifth couple, who came here earlier this month.

Their tale is not a typical love story. They did not fall in love in lush green fields but met only at family gatherings and talked occasionally on the phone. However, the decision to spend their lives together came abruptly when Z’s father decided to marry her to a 60-year-old man in exchange for a hefty amount.

On the night of January 12, Z escaped from home, boarded a bus and got married to N in Sukkur the next morning. “We sent our marriage certificate to our families hoping that they would be happy for us,” N says. “While my family reluctantly accepted, Z’s family called a jirga and declared us karo kari.” They wanted them to be brought back and killed.

Years ago, Z’s pregnant sister met a similar fate after she overslept on her train and missed her stop. The family accused her of running away from home with a lover. On the other hand, N’s brother, who was in the army, was killed only because he liked a girl from another clan.

Thus, for Z and N, the only choice they had was to come to Karachi, and file a petition in the Sindh High Court, seeking protection. But the danger is not over. They do not go outside as the people hunting for them have reached the city.

“It’s not a crime to marry the person we want to. But back home, our elders think women are their property. We can’t do things we want to do. At least in the city, we can breathe freely,” said Z from behind her burqa, perhaps the thinnest protection she has for now.

Taranum Khan of the HRCP says that almost all of such killings, which took place in the city last year, were of couples who had fled their villages. “If people think that they can be safe in Karachi, they are wrong. Their families hunt them down here and kill them,” she said.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, in 2011, around eight men and five women were killed in Karachi for these very reasons. In Sindh, 227 people, 136 women, 125 men, and 13 children faced this rough form of tribal justice....

Once again, wherever Sharia experiences a resurgence or increases its encroachment upon a society, tolerance decreases, and harassment increases. Indeed, as also seen in Tunisia, a sense of entitlement to harass and mind others' business emerges, even short of the formal establishment of morality police. "'Are you married?': Pakistani TV host dubbed the 'vigil-auntie' sacked after haranguing couples for 'immoral behaviour' in parks," by Daniel Miller for the Daily Mail, January 30:

A Pakistani TV host has been sacked after an episode of her morning TV programme showed her ambushing young couples and demanding to know whether they were involved in immoral behavior.

Samaa TV host Maya Khan was filmed charging around a park in Lahore, Pakistan, asking youngsters what they were up to, whether they were married or engaged and if their parents knew where they were.

In one particularly cringeworthy scene the 31-year-old host - who has been dubbed the 'vigil-auntie' - demanded to see a couple's wedding certificate after they told her they were married.

The show sparked outrage with viewers branded it - a 'witch hunt' and taking to the internet in their thousands to register their disgust.

Within hours of the broadcast on January 17th, several online petitions had sprung up demanding that Khan be sacked.

At first the controversial host remained defiant describing her critics as 'an elite class that don’t even watch my show,.'

But the following day Samaa TV showed a clip of her sitting on a bed in which she seemed to apologise saying: 'I never intended to make you teary-eyed or hurt you.'

According to the station, Khan, along with members of her production team, were sacked after refusing to give an unconditional apology.

The host later blamed ‘a vicious media campaign by rival groups’ for her sacking.

Now four non-governmental organisations have announced they are filing a civil suit against Samaa TV in Pakistan's supreme court.

Adnan Rehmat of Intermedia, a media development organization who were behind one of the petitions, said: 'Journalists don’t have the right to become moral police.

'We need to draw a line.'

Some viewers claimed the show brought back bad memories of 1980s when Pakistan was ruled by the Islamist dictator Gen. Mohammad Zia ul-Haq and police could demand to see a couple’s wedding papers under threat of imprisonment.

Others accused Khan and her team of picking on poor Pakistanis while ignoring the rich and powerful whose western lifestyles are potentially far more morally dubious.

How, then, pray tell, is Islam so consistently "misunderstood," across geographical areas and schools of jurisprudence, with respect to jihad warfare, and the rights of women and non-Muslims, from Great Britain to Nigeria to Algeria to Tunisia to France to Egypt to Germany to Turkey to the Palestinian territories to Lebanon to Syria to Saudi Arabia to (big breath) Yemen to Iraq to Iran to Afghanistan to Pakistan to Kashmir to the Maldives to Bangladesh to Indonesia to Malaysia?

"Islam 'most misunderstood' religion in world: Hina Rabbani Khar," from the Press Trust of India, January 26 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

DAVOS: Islam is the "most misunderstood" and "misrepresented" faith in the world, Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said today and acknowledged that illiterate and irresponsible people have been allowed to take the religion in their hands.

"In my mind Islam is the most misunderstood and misrepresented religion in the world. For example, Islam is the one religion that reinforces respect for women but we, the entire world must take responsibility because we have let Islam to be misrepresented," Khar said during a debate on Democracy at the World Economic Forum ( WEF) here.

She said Islam supports best of the democracies and her country would become the best example of this fact in ten years of time.

"If you ask whether Islam will come in the way of democracy, it is the other way round. Islam supports best of the democracies. Islam and democracy are not contradictory forces. They are rather supportive forces. Pakistan will become the best example of this fact in ten years of time.

"We have to take Islam away from the hands of the left overs of the society. We have let illiterate and irresponsible people take Islam in their hands. But it is also the duty of the Western world to understand the difference. They have been very biased on various occasions," she added.

"A big bias has been shown say in cases like Palestine and Kashmir," she alleged.

Carrying on (allegedly) with "different men from the neighborhood": haram. Murdering with an axe the person so accused: halal.

It is no accident or coincidence that Muslims commit 91 percent of honor killings worldwide. A manual of Islamic law certified as a reliable guide to Sunni orthodoxy by Al-Azhar University, the most respected authority in Sunni Islam, says that "retaliation is obligatory against anyone who kills a human being purely intentionally and without right." However, "not subject to retaliation" is "a father or mother (or their fathers or mothers) for killing their offspring, or offspring's offspring." ('Umdat al-Salik o1.1-2). In other words, someone who kills his child incurs no legal penalty under Islamic law.

Syria in 2009 scrapped a law limiting the length of sentences for honor killings, but "the new law says a man can still benefit from extenuating circumstances in crimes of passion or honour 'provided he serves a prison term of no less than two years in the case of killing.'" And in 2003 the Jordanian Parliament voted down on Islamic grounds a provision designed to stiffen penalties for honor killings. Al-Jazeera reported that "Islamists and conservatives said the laws violated religious traditions and would destroy families and values."

Nonetheless, the media drumbeat is constant: honor killings have nothing to do with Islam. And so they continue, as no one ever challenges Muslim authorities to do anything to stop them.

"Honour killing: Suspect surrenders, ‘confident of acquittal,’" by Owais Jafferi for the Express Tribune, January 24 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

MUZAFFARGARH: Allah Bachaya has surrendered himself to Rohilanwali police after killing his sister in the name of honour but he is confident that he will be released in a matter of days.

Bachaya gave his arrest on Saturday after killing Alina* in an axe attack for alleged loose morals.

He told The Express Tribune that he was certain his brother-in-law would withdraw the case as it was a matter of family’s honour. “I have killed her because she brought disgrace to the family’s name,” Bachaya said.

“She had become a nuisance. I feel no remorse over my actions. I am backed by the family. They were in favour of my decision to kill her,” he said.

Bachaya said Alina* had eloped more than once with [different] men from the neighbourhood. On Saturday, he said, she had returned home after spending three days with a man.

Alina*, 25, was married to Muhammad Akhtar. The couple had three children.

Akhtar, who is the complainant in the FIR against Bachaya, told The Tribune that while he had filed a complaint in the matter he might withdraw it in a few days.

“I believe he (Bachaya) has not done wrong. Nothing is above honour,” he said. “I would have also taken similar action had my sister left her husband and eloped with someone else,” he said, “I filed the report so that the police are informed of the matter. I don’t plan on prosecuting him (Bachaya),” he said. He said he would soon inform the police in writing that he had pardoned the suspect.

“When she returned home on Saturday, I sat down with her and tried to make her realise the consequences of her actions but she kept straying from the topic,” he said.

Later, he said, Bachaya came over to his house on finding out that Alina* had returned. Following an argument, he said, Bachaya attacked Alina* with an axe, chopping both her legs. She died while she was being taken to hospital....

"There is no compulsion in religion," according to Qur'an 2:256, but in reality, Islamic law is rife with means of coercion directed at unbelievers, whom Qur'an 9:29 offers the options of conversion, subjugation, or war. For that matter, "compulsion" is ultimately in the eye of the person in power doing the compelling, and rationalizations abound to blur the lines between persuasion and compulsion: "it's good for them." "It's for the best." "They'll thank us later when they realize we're right."

But, just to keep things looking good on paper, many forced converts are also forced to sign documents saying they converted of their own free will, or, as was the case in this report, brought to court to make a statement under duress.

Nadia Bibi got away. One other captive bride also recently got away. But Saba and Anila Masih, Farah Hatim, and untold others are still in captivity (and not only in Pakistan), with many cases of abducted Christian and Hindu girls and women going unreported.

Pakistan is a major recipient of U.S. assistance. We have leverage we are not using to insist Pakistan protect the rights of non-Muslims and to free those wrongfully imprisoned by various means on account of their faith.

"Christian Girl kidnapped and converted to Islam back home after 10 years," from Agenzia Fides, January 24 (thanks to E.):

Lahore (Agenzia Fides) - Nadia Bibi, a Christian girl who was abducted and forced to marry a Muslim man, returned to her family, of Catholic faith, after 10 years. Nadia was only 15 when, in 2001, she was kidnapped in Mariamabad (in Punjab), a city with a Catholic majority: her case is not an isolated case, as confirmed by Catholic sources of Fides in Punjab, there are at least 700 cases a year of Christian girls kidnapped and forced to marry a Muslim. If one adds the cases of Hindu girls, the number rises to 1,800 cases per year, says a recent Report carried out by the NGO "Asian Human Rights Commission".

Nadia's parents had turned to the police but, as often happens, they had been intimidated and threatened by the kidnappers, while the police refused to register a complaint. Later, when they heard that Nadia had been forced to marry the Muslim Maqsood Ahmed, her parents went back to the police and this time they managed to register a FIR (First Information Report). But the police refused to arrest him and the story ended up before the High Court of Lahore. Here Nadia, under threats, issued a statement in favor of her husband, expressing her free will to marry, for fear of tragic consequences for her and her family. So the case was closed.Meanwhile, for Nadia life was unbearable: Maqsood beat her and treated her badly, even asking her to convert her parents to Islam. After 10 years in December 2011, Nadia found the strength to escape, returning home to her parents. However Maqsood returned with a group of armed men, threatening to kill and kidnap Nadia’s younger sister. The family then fled and turned to the NGO CLAAS (Center for Legal Aid Assistence and Settlement) that protects Pakistani Christians. CLAAS has arranged to host Nadia and her sister in a hidden place, starting a new criminal case against Maqsood.

As reported by CLAAS to Fides, Nadia said: "Maqsood made my life miserable. I was afraid of being killed because Maqsood knew I was not happy with him. I felt totally helpless and I was very confused. Maqsood is inhumane, he has ruined my life. Now I have regained hope and even faith".Nadia's story is exemplary and follows a clichet [sic] that is repeated in many other cases, like that of Farah Hatim kidnapped and converted to Islam in 2011. Although her case was concluded with a statement (forced), made in court, in favor of the perpetrator but some international NGOs reported the story to the United Nations.

"Rehnaz was fired at with an AK-47 and received 30 bullets. Her family had termed her death as an accident."

"Honour killing: Victim’s body exhumed on court orders," by Muhammad Sadaqat in the Express Tribune, January 22 (thanks to Answering Muslims):

HARIPUR: The body of a teenaged girl who was allegedly killed in the name of honour was exhumed by a medical team on Saturday after the divisional bench of the Peshawar High Court ordered a re-investigation into the case.

The inquiry team, which included two medical officers, was headed by judicial magistrate Rashid Rauf Swati.

Rehnaz Bibi, 13, was allegedly shot dead by one of her cousins in September 2010. According to reports, Bibi left home to convince the boy she liked to marry her without her family’s consent. However, she was sent back home by his family, who lived in the same village, with the promise to send a proposal for her later.

When her family found out about the incident, her father, who was in Karachi at that time, allegedly asked one of his nephews to kill her.

According to an application filed in Haripur district and sessions court by a local activist Qamar Hayat, Rehnaz was fired at with an AK-47 and received 30 bullets. Her family had termed her death as an accident.

The petitioner claims the police closed the case and allegedly concealed facts pertaining to her murder.

Hayat and other social activists requested an inquiry and postmortem of the victim, upon which Haripur District and Sessions Judge Shaibar Khan ordered the area magistrate to conduct an inquiry through a medical board. However, the victim’s parents obtained a stay order from the court’s divisional bench.

Later, after hearing both sides of the case, the court ordered a re-investigation by an honest and competent DSP. The court also ordered to submit a report within 30 days....

Asia Bibi is already frail, and a reported beating at the hands of a prison guard did not help. Authorities seem to be half hoping she will die in prison so they will be spared the fallout on one hand of carrying out her sentence, or on the other, of releasing her.

Qari Salam let himself be used by fellow Muslims who promised to "chase her through hell," and as a result, an innocent woman has been sentenced to death and dumped in a Pakistani jail after a show trial with no attorney or a chance to make a statement. The judge feared the wrath of Islamic supremacists who wanted her dead.

Salam is not ready to retract his charges, however, still believing that "it will bring me a better place in heaven."

Does Barack Obama know the name of Asia Bibi? Do Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, or Ron Paul? Anyone in a potential position to deal with foreign policy regarding Pakistan certainly should. "Aasia Bibi’s case: Weighed down by guilt, blasphemy accuser mulls pulling back," from the Express Tribune, January 21 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

A guilty prayer leader prowls the narrow, fetid streets of Ittanwali village in Nankana district.

At the forefront of a popular, polarising case, Qari Salam ostensibly regrets filing a blasphemy charge against an impoverished Christian woman, Aasia Bibi.

The source of his guilt – realisation that the case was not based on facts but on hyped religious emotions and personal bias of some village women.

Aasia has been languishing in Sheikhupura jail since a sessions court awarded her death sentence for insulting Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Support from London

Qari, according to some of his close friends, was now thinking of not pursuing the case anymore and expressed his desire to some of his friends, only to find himself in a difficult situation when activists of a religious organisation ‘convinced’ him not to change his mind.

“We will chase her through hell … don’t worry about the money, hiring best lawyers,” Salam told The Express Tribune, quoting the son of Khatm-e-Nabuwat’s London chapter’s leader.

The leader’s son flew in to Nankana from London after hearing that Salam might not go to Lahore High Court (LHC) when the review petition against Aasia’s conviction is taken up.

Salam himself, however, denied he ever thought of backtracking from his stance.

“How can I change my mind,” he said. “I believe it will bring me a better place in heaven. It gives me pleasure, it is my pride,” Salam told The Express Tribune.

Salam said Khatm-e-Nabuwat had hired Mustafa Chaudhry as counsel to fight his case in the higher court, and were ready to go to an extent to seek death for Aasia.

Counsel seek bail

While bullets may have silenced Aasia’s lone supporter, former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, they have faltered in the face of the silent resolve of her counsel.

Despite death threats from religious right [sic], Aasia’s lawyers are now planning to seek bail for her from LHC.

Lone supporter? Why no mention of Shahbaz Bhatti, who was also assassinated?

“Yes, we are ready to file a bail application and will be moving ahead with it in a couple of weeks,” said Rai Ajmal, one of the two lawyers who were Aasia’s counsel in Nankana court which sent her to gallows in 2010.

A review petition against the verdict filed by Rai, and a fellow lawyer Sardar Khan Chaudhry, is pending before the LHC and there are little chances that it can be taken up for at least another three years.

Rai said the LHC is still hearing review petitions filed in 2006-07, and judges are reluctant to use their discretionary powers to take up Aasia’s case on a priority basis due to its controversial nature.

Aasia’s review petition was filed in 2010 and, according to sources in the LHC, it will purportedly not be taken up before 2015, while Aasia languishes in jail.

They have owned the property for 125 years, but according to the prior report -- surprise! -- the local government decided it was government property.

The land is now worth a great deal. Local authorities have found that, as Hedy Hedley Lamarr declared in Blazing Saddles: "Unfortunately there is one thing standing between me and that property: the rightful owners."

"Lahore, Catholics go to court against the "blasphemous" demolition of their institute," by Jibran Khan for Asia News, January 21:

Lahore (AsiaNews) - The Catholic community of Lahore is up in arms against the illegal demolition of the "Gosha-e-Aman", a "place of peace" that welcomed Christians and Muslims, last January 10 by the provincial government of Punjab. One victim has decided to take the case to court by filing a written complaint against the Development Authority and other officials involved in the affair. Meanwhile, it appears that one of the police officers present during the demolition of the building (Malik Ahmed Raza Tahir), was in charge of security in Gojra in August 2009, when a Muslim mob attacked the local Christian minority, resulting in seven dead - burned alive – and the burning of several homes and properties.

Speaking to AsiaNews, the archbishop emeritus Mgr. Lawrence Saldanha condemned the demolition decided by the authorities, the prelate emphasizes that we are in the presence of "ancient institution, worthy of respect," owned "by the Church in peace for 125 years" and used "for charitable purposes."

The faithful have dubbed this past January 10 "Black Tuesday" and demand the restitution of property and compensation for damage, if not, they warn, protests will continue until the authorities meet their demands. The institute "Gosha-e-Aman", founded in 1887, is surrounded by two acres of land, worth a total of billions of rupees. Inside there was a home for the elderly, a girls' school, a convent and a chapel for prayer. The dispute relating to the possession of the building and surrounding area had long been the center of a lawsuit, it seems the demolition was triggered by a woman - converted to Islam - who in the past sought shelter in the center.

Catholic Christian leaders and government officials have expressed solidarity with the victims, in search of a makeshift shelter that can accommodate them in the coming weeks. In Lahore Catholics, Anglicans, Protestants and non-governmental organizations have strongly condemned the abuse by the local government. Zenobia Richards, 61, one of the victims of the demolition, has launched a lawsuit by filing a petition to the High Court, citing the authority for urban development, along with other officials. She worked 24 years for Caritas Pakistan and lived in "Gosha-e-Aman". "It was a center of peace - she says - a lot of memories bind me to that place. That's why I wanted to bring a case against those who demolished the building, which I call home. "

During demolition operations, the workers also destroyed a statue of the Our Lady and several copies of the Bible: "I used to pray in this place," adds Zenobia (pictured, on the rubble of the building) and that's why "I intend to cite the crime of blasphemy "because they" desecrated a church and religious material in my house". "This is not just a piece of land - she adds - but the emotions, feelings, rights of minorities in Pakistan." She says she is "not afraid" and points the finger at the Punjab Minister for Minorities: “I will fight for my rights, "she concludes, confirming today that she has filed an appeal in court.

Archbishop Saldanha, archbishop emeritus of Lahore, speaks of "clear violation of the rights of minorities." The prelate told AsiaNews that the government "is short of funds" and is looking for "easy targets to fill the budget deficit." He adds that Catholics can and should continue in the protest and "appeals to the international community: I myself have spoken to the Department for religious freedom in Canada." The Archbishop hopes that international pressure "will have a positive impact and that the land mafia will fail in their criminal intent."

Oddly enough, it seems as if it was Islamic jihadists who desecrated the mosque by murdering this VOA journalist, Mukarram Khan Atif, inside the mosque. Also oddly, Muslims will not be enraged over this desecration, and will stage no worldwide demonstrations, although if non-Muslims had killed Atif, they certainly would have taken to the streets, as Honest Ibe Hooper of Hamas-linked CAIR demanded that Obama issue a denunciation of the killing. And he would have been only too happy to oblige.

"Gunmen kill journalist in Pakistan mosque," from AP, January 17 (thanks to Twostellas):

Police say gunmen have killed a local television journalist in a mosque in northwest Pakistan.

Mukarram Khan Atif worked for Dunya TV, and according to his profile on LinkedIn, contributed stories to US government funded Voice of America.

Police said the 40-year-old was killed Tuesday near the city of Peshawar.

A colleague said Atif had received threats from militants in the Mohmand tribal region and moved away from there several months ago.

The colleague didn't give his name for security reasons.

Last year, seven journalists were killed in Pakistan, making it the deadliest country for journalists for the second year in a row.

Yet U.S. journalists routinely front for the same murderous ideology that is responsible for the deaths of their colleagues in Pakistan.

The marriages of captives are abrogated, by order of the Qur'an: "And all married women (are forbidden unto you) save those (captives) whom your right hands possess. It is a decree of Allah for you" (4:24).

"There is no compulsion in religion," according to Qur'an 2:256, but the nature of the "compulsion" is in the eye of the overlord/beholder. There is, in reality, plenty of coercion hardwired into Islamic law, even via Qur'an 9:29, which gives unbelievers the options of conversion, subjugation, or warfare. All options are intended to lead the way to conversion by making life so otherwise intolerable, humiliating, and terrifying as to wear down resistance. But hey, you know, no compulsion or anything. Just "an offer you can't refuse."

Often, just to keep things looking good on paper, these women and girls are made to sign under duress (if not while drugged) a document saying they converted of their own free will. Is there "no compulsion" in document signing?

"Choora," variously spelled "Chura," or "Choohra," is a derogatory term. Literally, it means "sweeper," referring to the menial jobs to which Christians are frequently relegated on account of their faith and the social barriers to their advancement.

Pakistan remains a major recipient of U.S. aid. We have leverage we are not using to help Pakistan's second class citizens realize their full rights in society, and liberate the abducted and wrongfully imprisoned. "Girls being raped and tortured," from The News, January 16 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

“I saw two of my daughters being raped in front of me,” an old lady from Essa Nagri told The News. “It is considered that Chooras have no integrity.” She says that around midnight, men from other areas start gathering in their neighbourhood. “They are usually drunk. They choose which home they will plunder.”

She adds that one night they stormed into her home and raped two of her girls, while she “was locked in another room hearing their cries for help”. “I am a widow without any financial prospects, but I did go to the MPA representing us. What good is he if he can’t do anything to protect us?” The fear to report these cases is such that at first, no one even admits that an incident of rape or torture has taken place.

Forcible conversions

Within the past three months, nine women have been abducted and forcibly converted to Islam. MPA Javed adds that the purpose is not to gain good deeds, but to sell them. A majority of the Christian girls converted are married, he says.

According to reports he received from different areas of the city, the abducted women are later sold to feudal lords in Sindh and Punjab. Citing a recent example, Javed says that in Essa Nagri, a 23-year-old married girl was forcibly remarried to a 60-year-old Muslim man, who was notorious for selling girls.

"Known to be pious, but had a side business of selling Christian girls":

Javed said that the man was known to be pious, but had a side business of selling Christian girls. He says many people apart from him knew the truth. The only information that the family received was by a phone call through which they were informed by somebody that their girl is in Punjab.

He points out that there is a judgment by the Lahore High Court which clearly states that a “married Christian woman cannot be remarried to a Muslim even if converted,” but these cases do not even go to the police to be challenged in the high courts.

The Qur'an trumps the court ruling.

Brothel beside a church

Ayub Goth, near the Meteorological Department, is another area known for ethnic and religious discord. The Christians living in the area complain that a brothel was recently established right beside a Catholic church in the area.

In the evening women from outside are brought by “some people.” Residents say that these people have enough political clout to ensure that no one dares raise a finger....

The intrepid mujahedin, showing how manly they are by outsourcing suicide bombings to children. "Afghan boy suicide bombers tell how they are brainwashed into believing they will survive," by Ben Farmer for the Telegraph, January 13:

The mission was as simple as touching two wires together, the little boy was promised. The resulting blast would obliterate the American infidels – but God would spare him from the flame and shrapnel. Abdul Samat would be unharmed and free to run back to the men who had fitted his bomb vest.

Blindfolded and rigged with his explosive payload, the boy, who was about 13, was driven to his target in the Afghan city of Kandahar, after being plucked from the streets of Quetta in neighbouring Pakistan. Minutes before he was due to execute the attack, however, Abdul realised the lies of his recruiters seeking to turn him into a human bomb.

"When I opened my eyes, I saw it was a very black thing they wanted me to do," he later recalled.

"I began to cry and shout. People came out of their houses and asked what was wrong. I showed them I had something in my vest. Then they were scared too and called the police who took the bombs off me."

Afghan security officials say that Abdul's story is not unusual. In the past year, insurgents have used a wave of child suicide bombers, some as young as 10, on the ruthless assumption that small boys can pass through checkpoints and security cordons more easily than men.

A senior Afghan intelligence official estimated that more than 100 had been intercepted in the past 12 months, including 20 from the Kandahar area in the south. The insurgents seek to exploit the innocence of their recruits and turn it into a weapon.

What they really want is to place NATO forces in a situation where they have to decide between dying in a bombing and using force to stop the bomber. The propaganda mill would then say that NATO forces fired on a child.

The largely illiterate boys are fed a diet of anti-Western and anti-Afghan government propaganda until they are prepared to kill, he said. But the boys are also assured that they will miraculously survive the devastation they cause.

"The worst part is that these children don't think that they are killing themselves," said the official. "They are often given an amulet containing Koranic verses. Mullahs tell them, 'When this explodes you will survive and God will help you survive the fire. Only the infidels will be killed, you will be saved and your parents will go to paradise'."

Throughout the war against the Soviet invaders in the 1980s, and the civil strife that followed, Afghan fighters of all factions rejected suicide attacks as cowardly and unIslamic.

The tactic was adopted only after 2001, learned from Arab jihadists who had used it to devastating effect in Iraq.

The first Afghan suicide bomber is believed to have been a man called Hafez Abdallah, who in 2004 threw himself on a military Jeep and detonated mortar bombs strapped to his body. Suicide bombs hidden in vehicles or sewn into vests have since been widely employed.

The Taliban denies using children as bombers, pointing out that its battlefield code forbids any military use of pre-pubescent boys. One Taliban facilitator from northern Afghanistan told The Daily Telegraph: "All our bombers are men and they are all volunteers. We never use boys."

But Nato and Afghan security officials said the tactic has been widely adopted. Child bombers had been used by the Haqqani network, an insurgent group aligned to the Taliban. [...]

And Pakistani intelligence.

Gul Khan, who looks no older than 10, said his father had insisted he go to a madrassa in Pakistan run by a man called Maulawi Sher Jan.

"Each day they were preaching that we would tie bombs on to our bodies and attack foreigners in Afghanistan," he said after escaping and being arrested on the border.

"They told us the bombs would not kill us, only the Americans would die and you can come back to us."

Many of the captured boys have been pardoned, but others remain in Afghanistan's child jails. Once in custody, they often retract their televised confessions, justice officials in Kandahar said.

Three convicted child suicide bombers, seen by The Daily Telegraph, all said their confessions had been false and they were wrongly convicted. Haji Abdul Haq, the juvenile prosecutor for Kandahar, denied pressure had been placed on them and said they were often caught wearing bomb vests. "They confess at first, but when their families reach them, they change their minds," he said.

Land grab: surprise! It's "government property." "The land was declared state land by the district collector in 2007." "Church Property: Demolition denounced," by Rabia Mehmood for the Express Tribune, January 10:

LAHORE: The National Commission of Justice and Peace (NCPJ) has accused the Punjab government of illegally demolishing a welfare centre allegedly without a notice.

The centre, Gosha-e-Aman, on Allama Iqbal Road, Garhi Shahu, was a property of the Catholic Church. Father Emmanuel Yousuf Mani, the NCPJ national director, told a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Tuesday that the demolished compound was home to three families and worth billions of rupees. He said the property was registered as the Lahore Charitable Association and was managed by CARITAS Pakistan.

Father Emmanuel said litigation concerning the property was in court, and a stay order had been issued against its demolition.

Father Emmanuel told The Express Tribune that he found District Coordination Officer Ahad Khan Cheema with policemen and demolition machines when he went to the centre in the morning. He said they demolished the building despite his efforts to stop them. The Christian community representatives said that the DCO informed them that the property had been transferred to the government. They said the property was a Catholic Church property and could not be transferred without permission.

Tariq Zaman, a staff officer at the district coordination office, told The Express Tribune that the land was declared state land by the district collector in 2007. Since then, he said, the government representative had several times notified the owners of the centre.

Zaman said if the Catholic Church claimed that they owned the land, then they should present papers and court orders to explain their position to the government. The Christian community have announced a protest today.

Catch-22: a court date would have been a logical time to present documentation, but the government jumped the gun and destroyed the buildings before the case could be resolved in court.

The uniformity of the language in Islamic supremacist hate mail is striking. It is so formulaic that one could all but program an automatic jihad-mail generator to do one's hating and kick back with a cup of tea. The language here is reminiscent of what we and others have received over the years. Did those guys call each other? Or could there possibly be some other reason they seem to "misunderstand" Islam with such striking uniformity?

"Christian editor receives death threats from Pakistan Islamists," by Ahmar Mustikhan for the Examiner, January 6:

A Pakistani Christian editor has said he receives hate mails and death threats on a daily basis from Pakistan for carrying reports on the persecution of Christians in the South Asian country.

Dr. Nazir S. Bhatti, editor of the Pakistan Christian Post who doubles as founder of Pakistan Christian Congress, Thursday received one such email in whch Aasia Bibi, who is languishing in jail for alleged blasphemy, and former Punjab governor Salman Taseer and minorities affairs minister Shahbaz Bhatti, who were assassinated last year for crusading to end the blasphemy law, were called harami or bastards.

A defiant Bhatti said Christians are sons of soil not descendants of Muslim invaders. Over the centuries, Muslim invaders massacred 80 million Hindus to convert India into Islam.

Bhatti posted the hate email on his Facebook page Thursday.

“I have read some of your media and it disturbs me very greatly that your media is responsible for sympathizing with the criminal, dirty harami woman Aasia Bibi, who insulted our beloved Prophet (Peace be upon him). .... Furthermore, your media has been portraying such haramis like Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti as "shaheeds" (martyrs), they are both haramis and jahannamis (destined for hell) and gustakh e Rasool (blasphemer of prophet).”

The writer told Bhatti, "I would like to remind you of one very important fact. Pakistan is an Islamic nation. It is a nation for Muslims, by Muslims, of Muslims."

Pakistan like neighboring Iran and Saudi Arabia is officially an Islamic republic where only a Muslim can become the head of state or government.

"Now you people are not Muslims, and you are not Pakistanis, but you are only guests who happen to live in Pakistan. Truth be told, we do not like you people, and would rather you leave our beautiful country. You can go to Europe or America, but we do not like you to live in Pakistan, the land which is Paak (pure)..

"All of Pakistan is behind Hazrat Ghazi e Millat, Mumtaz Hussain Qadri.... we will make life for you in Pakistan a living hell, I swear to God so don’t forget it.”

In fact, many in the West were stunned as lawyers in Rawalpindi, headquarters of the Pakistan military, garlanded the alleged Qadri and took out rallies in his favor.

After killing Governor Taseer, militants abducted his young son Shahbaz Taseer as a way to protect his killer Qadri.

Christains are routinely killed, forcibly converted and raped in Pakistan, but the culprits are never brought to justice.

The culprit actually seems to have been, oddly enough, Misunderstanders of Islam: "The bombing in Khyber comes amid heightened tensions between the Pakistani security forces and factions of the TTP, an anti-Pakistan umbrella organisation of Taliban militants." "Deadly blast hits bus terminal in Khyber, Pakistan," from the BBC, January 10 (thanks to Gerard):

At least 30 people have been killed after a bomb exploded near a bus terminal in a tribal region of north-west Pakistan, officials say.

The blast took place in the town of Jamrud in the Khyber tribal region, an area where militants have previously launched deadly attacks.

Police say the bomb was planted in a vehicle in Jamrud's busy market area and detonated remotely.

More than 60 people were injured, some of them critically, officials say.

"It was a huge blast and caused damage to a number of vehicles at the bus terminal," Khyber tribesman Khan Zaman was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

"People were burning," shopkeeper Sharif Gul said, adding that the blast ignited a huge fire.

From a hospital in Peshawar, he told the Associated Press news agency that there was nothing with which to put out the fire.

The frequency of high-profile bombings has decreased in Pakistan over the past year. This is the bloodiest attack since a suicide bomber killed at least 40 people at a mosque, also in Jamrud, in August.

Jamrud has been the target of several major blasts in recent years.

The bombing in Khyber comes amid heightened tensions between the Pakistani security forces and factions of the TTP, an anti-Pakistan umbrella organisation of Taliban militants....

"My name is Jew...how do you do!"

For some reason, those who encountered Jew Jurian, even though they were residents of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan -- a nation dedicated to living out the peaceful and tolerant teachings of Islam -- were unable to tolerate him and his name. How did so many Misunderstanders of Islam end up there? Do the writings of greasy Islamophobes circulate widely in the Islamic Republic?

"The name ‘Jew’ lands Christian in trouble," by Asad Kharal in The Express Tribune, January 9 (thanks to Mehreen):

LAHORE: A man wrote that his name was ‘Jew Jurian’ on his national identity card form. The data entry clerk then assumed he was a Jew. Thus for the first time in the history of Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC), a Pakistani was officially declared a Jew.

The problem was that he was a Christian.

The bigger problem for Jurian, as he told The Express Tribune, was that he was accused of being a Jew – and subsequently, through the twisted logic of twisted souls, of blasphemy.

After thorough investigations, Jurian was released by the police, along with three others, in May 2003. Almost nine years later, he and his family still face death threats.

Qaiser Azeem, one of the other three men, was stabbed to death two years later. Another, Mushtaq Ahmed, was also shot after testifying against religious extremists accused of terrorism. Despite the families of Jurian and those murdered fleeing the area, death threats still continue. An FIR obtained by The Express Tribune seems to confirm this.

According to the FIR, registered at Bakri police station by Jurian against unknown extremists, the victim (Jurian) was detained for blasphemy in 2002. Despite being declared innocent, he and his family received death threats. Through his father, Maqbool Masih, he then contacted Kamran Micheal, the provincial minister for human rights and minorities and submitted an application.

In his application he appealed to be saved from extremists. He also said that the assistant sub inspector of Baghbanpura police station is providing security to such extremists.

The contents of the FIR further stated that the victim received threatening calls continuously. Late at night on October 25, 2011, he received a call from a stranger calling him an infidel (kafir). This being a regular occurrence, Jurian and his family have now left the area. Only one Christian family lives in the area, Mohallah Green Park, situated in Shalimar Town, Lahore – and Jurian claimed that some local residents are in contact with religious extremists. He also alleged that a police official at a local station sympathises with extremists, and they have worked together to create trouble for Jurian and his family, eventually forcing them to leave. He alleged that the Baghbanpura police have continuously harassed his family and conducted various raids at his home.

Jurian, his family, and the families of those already victim to such extremists have left the city to live an underground existence. Be they Jew, Christian or unclassifiable, this is obviously an unacceptable state of affairs.

Does Barack Obama know the name of Asia Bibi? Do Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, or Ron Paul? They ought to. Her case is emblematic of all that is wrong with Pakistan, which, despite its double game with jihadists and abuse of religious minorities, continues to be a major beneficiary of U.S. aid.

Behavior that is rewarded is repeated. Or as Reagan once put it, if you want more of something, subsidize it. Do we want more of this? No. "Lahore: death threats for Asia Bibi's lawyer and human rights activists," by Jibran Khan for Asia News, January 7:

Lahore (AsiaNews) - Asia Bibi's lawyer and activists of the Masihi Foundation (MF), fighting for the freedom of the 45 year old Christian mother of five children, condemned to death for blasphemy, have received death threats. In recent days the legal team has prepared the application for appeal to be presented to the court, but specific details are not provided to safeguard the safety of the woman - in solitary confinement in Sheikpura prison (Punjab) - and the team committed to obtain her release. For some time now, in fact, a leading Islamic extremist group has put a bounty on Asia Bibi which also affects those taking her defence. Last year, the Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer and Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti Catholics were murdered precisely because they have demanded the release of Christian women and called for a revision of the infamous "Black Law".

Salman Taseer was assassinated in part for calling it a "black law." Asia Bibi herself is currently reported to be recovering from a severe beating at the hands of a prison guard.

The activists of the Mf of Lahore are asking "all people of good will," Christians and Muslims alike, to defend Asia Bibi because she is "innocent". They also point out that since 1986, when the rules on blasphemy were promulgated, the largest number of victims have been registered within the Muslim majority. Lawyers explain that the Asia Bibi case is a "misinterpretation" of the law and clarify that there are no positions "against" the community or faithful, but only the desire to save the lives of "innocent" people and respect ultimate good, human life. We respect Islam, they add, the Prophet Muhammad and all religions and "we hope that the case turns into a 'bridge' and a not a 'barrier' between Christians and Muslims."

An inherently defective law can never be applied "correctly," and abusive laws tend to lend themselves to further opportunistic abuses. This is exactly what is happening with the blasphemy law.

S.K. Chaudry, Asia Bibi's lawyer, confirmed that the team of lawyers has prepared the application for appeal to the High Court, but also adds that "the primary objective" is the "protection" of the woman and her family. He also adds that he harbours "confidence" in Pakistan's legal system and that her innocence will be proven.

The leaders of the Masihi Foundation want to thank those working on the case, with dedication and commitment. A special thought, they add, should be addressed to Pope Benedict XVI who prays for the "human dignity and basic rights of each individual." The pope's words, they conclude, are a source of encouragement and an invitation to "full respect" for human dignity.

Among the conspiracy-minded in Pakistan, this will officially make him "one of them." After all, "O ye who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust" (Qur'an 5:51).

"Pakistan ties with Israel? Why not, asks Musharraf," by Qasim Nauman for Reuters, January 7:

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan should consider establishing ties with Israel, said exiled former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, remarks likely to anger many in the Muslim-majority country where he hopes to make a political comeback.

Musharraf, who resigned in 2008 in disgrace, has said he plans to return to Pakistan this month, despite possible arrest, in order to participate in a parliamentary election due by 2013.

On Sunday, he is scheduled to address a rally via video in Pakistan's biggest city and commercial hub, Karachi, sources in his recently formed All Pakistan Muslim League said.

Speaking in favour of relations with Israel could make Musharraf more unpopular, especially among militants who made several attempts on his life with bombings because of his support for the U.S. "war on terror" following the 9/11 attacks.

Those same groups want the destruction of Israel.

"There is nothing to lose by trying to get on Israel's good side," Musharraf, a former army chief, told the liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz in an interview carried on its website.

That interview can be found here.

"Pakistan also needs to keep readjusting its diplomatic stand toward Israel based on the mere fact that it exists and is not going away." [...]

Many Pakistanis think Israel and the United States are constantly plotting against Pakistan -- a belief that inspires abundant conspiracy theories. Pakistani media routinely rail against Jews and Israeli plots....

This recalls how Canadian honor killing victim Aqsa Parvez was buried in an unmarked grave. The victims of this abominable crime are dishonored even in death. "In Sukkur, a separate graveyard for the ‘dishonourable’ ones," by Sarfaraz Memon for The Express Tribune, January 3 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

For some of the deceased in Sindh, there are no prayers for a peaceful afterlife and no on comes to put flowers on their graves. Those slain for honour are not spared even in death.

There is a separate graveyard for those killed under the pretext of karo-kari (honour killing) called ‘karan jo qabrustan’ (graveyard for the dishonoured) near Daharki. At this graveyard, built by the Shar clan, people are buried without last rites and men guard the graves so nobody can visit them and offer Fateha. Even in death, the punishment continues.

While the custom of karo-kari prevails throughout Sindh, some clans as Shar Bozdar, Pitafi and Jakhrani are particularly notorious for killing people under the custom.

Shar Bozdar and Pitafi clans are concentrated mainly in Ghotki and Kashmore, while the Jakhrani tribe is spread in areas over Jacobabad and Kashmore.

In these tribes, the custom of killing in the name of honour flourishes to serve many other ulterior motives. According to dictates of people from the tribes and other smaller communities, men manipulate this atrocious custom to get rid of their wives and marry a lover, to get monetary benefit or share in property among other things.

According to a Sindh-based, women’s rights NGO, Samaj Foundation, the number of women killed in Sindh was 284 in 2009, while in 2010 it fell to 266. The foundation has statistics until June 30 this year, where a total of 155 cases were recorded.

However, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, 675 women and girls were murdered during the first nine months of the year for allegedly defaming their family’s honour.

Kiran Daudpoto, director of Samaj Foundation, has too many unfortunate stories to share. In June 2011, Arzana, a young widow, was killed and buried in her courtyard by her father-in-law and brother-in -law who wanted to sell her to an elderly man.

In another incident four years ago, 82-year-old Mai Bhagul was branded kari by her son who had used up her savings for Hajj instead of making arrangements for the pilgrimage. Such stories are many, some more brutal than the rest.

There are various explanations as to how this custom found its way in Sindh. Accounts of historians relate it to the pre-Islamic era.

They say the custom reached the sub-continent in the 17th century when some Arab descendants, who used to bury their daughters alive, came to settle in Balochistan. Killing young and old women in the name of honour was common practice for them. Later, when the British tried to prohibit the custom by announcing the death penalty for the perpetrators, people started throwing women in wells and claiming they were suicide cases. When the authorities discovered that this tactic was being used, poisonous snakes used to kill women instead.

Human rights activist Samar Minallah says the Sardars, elected representatives and influential people are to blame for the practice. “These people can stop such incidents as the decision of declaring people Kari or to barter girls and equal scores rests in the Jirga. But they don’t stand for justice so their voters don’t get angry.”...

A pilot study on honour killings by Maliha Zia Lari, an advocate, has revealed that some men are willing to sell off their wives, or kill them in order to get rid of them.

According to the advocate, the 2004 criminal law (amendment) has not had the desired impact. She said that since its implementation, honour killings had actually increased.

Lari carried out a study titled, ‘Honour killings in Pakistan and the compliance of law’ in collaboration with the Aurat Foundation’s legislative watch programme for women empowerment....

While studying the FIRs, she said that they were gender insensitive as the police preferred to report such incidents as murder instead of honour killings.

She explained the motive behind the authorities reporting karo kari as murder, and said that the reasons cited for murder were usually considered a negative reference to the woman’s character. Elaborating on her point, she said that these usually included details such as the woman leaving her husband or marrying without her family’s consent. She added that nearly 1,636 honour killings were reported in 2011.

The research also included detailed case studies, which according to Lari were easier to access at the high court than the district courts. She said that the Sindh High Court had a couple of recorded honour killing cases while there were no reported cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Balochistan. She added that the police did not usually arrest the suspects because of social pressure.

The police perspective

While talking about the authorities attitude towards honour killings, DIG Abdul Khalique Sheikh, said that according to one of their studies nearly 88% of police officers thought that there was no difference between murder and honour killings. He added that for a police officer, karo kari was a family matter.

The DIG said that it investigations for such cases was very problematic as the evidence was hidden and witnesses were unwilling to collaborate.

While talking about the status of an anti-honour killing programme in collaboration with the United Nations, he said that so far they had save 12 girls from getting murdered. He added the date from non-governmental organisations was misleading and exaggerated....

Awwww. More on this story. It is unfortunate that it does not look as if anyone (least of all Pakistan) is pressing for a military advantage while the group is floundering; the CIA has suspended drone strikes as of last month. It would appear that this is an opportunity that is being allowed to pass. "Exclusive: Pakistan Taliban commanders 'at each other's throats'," by Chris Allbritton for Reuters, January 3:

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban and Pakistani militants have held a series of meetings aimed at containing what could soon be open warfare between the two most powerful Pakistani Taliban leaders, militant sources have said.

Hakimullah Mehsud, the head of the Pakistani Taliban, also known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and his deputy, Wali-ur-Rehman, were at each other's throats, the sources said.

"You will soon hear that one of them has eliminated the other, though hectic efforts are going on by other commanders and common friends to resolve differences between the two," one TTP commander said.

Any division within the TTP could hinder the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda's struggle in Afghanistan against the United States and its allies, making it more difficult to recruit young fighters and disrupting safe havens in Pakistan used by the Afghan militants.

Despite multiple reports of the Rehman-Mehsud split, Rehman told Reuters on Tuesday there was no problem between the two.

"There are no differences between us," Rehman said.

The TTP, formed in 2007, is an umbrella group of various Pakistani militant factions operating in Pakistan's unruly northwestern tribal areas along the porous border with Afghanistan.

It has long struggled with its choice of targets. Some factions are at war with the Pakistani state while others concentrate on the fight against the United States and its allies in Afghanistan.

There has been a noticeable decrease in militant attacks in Pakistan, but there continue to be random acts of violence across the country.

Al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban commanders are asking the TTP to provide more men for the fight in Afghanistan and are looking to smooth over the dispute between Mehsud and Rehman.

Taliban sources said Rehman had ordered his fighters to kill Mehsud because of his increasing closeness with al Qaeda and its Arab contingent.

Mehsud's former deputy has also alleged the TTP chief received money from Pakistan's arch-rival, India, to kill a former Pakistan spy agency official acting as a mediator between the Pakistani Taliban, Afghan insurgents and the Pakistani government.

The reported enmity between Mehsud and Rehman is not the only conflict within the TTP ranks.

Mehsud has a long-standing feud with militant commanders Maulvi Nazeer in South Waziristan and Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan, both of whom have non-aggression agreements with the Pakistani military.

Mehsud's men have also fought with the militia under the control of Fazal Saeed Haqqani, the former TTP head in the Kurram tribal region. He has accused Mehsud of killing his commanders and innocent people and kidnapping for ransom.

Haqqani, who is close to the militant Afghan Haqqani network, broke away from the TTP last year.

A pamphlet distributed by militants in North Waziristan this week announced the formation of a council to try to resolve the conflicts.

"All jihadi forces have jointly, on the recommendation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, formed a five-member commission which will be known as the Shura Muraqba," the pamphlet said, using the term by which the Afghan Taliban describe themselves.

"The Shura Muraqba will be working to resolve differences and problems between mujahideen."

It said that any mujahideen -- or holy warriors -- found to have committed an "unlawful" killing or kidnapping would be punished under Islamic law. It is likely any attack on a fellow mujahideen commander would be considered "unlawful."

"All mujahideen should respect the decisions of the council that has been set up," a senior commander of the Haqqani faction in Kurram said....

Here is yet another ongoing human rights abuse that goes largely ignored by the international human rights organizations. "PAKISTAN: A lawyer from Hindu community is missing and police refuse to register the case claiming that the abduction of Hindus is of no consequence," from the Asian Human Rights Commission, December 30 (thanks to Linda):

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding that a lawyer belonging to the Dalit caste of Hindu minority community has been missing since December 23 when he was going to attend the Sindh High Court. His car was found abandoned at a Taxi stand with all court files in it. The high police officials of the district Hyderabad, Sindh province have refused to register the case. The police are also fighting on the jurisdiction of the concerned police stations to avoid filing the case. The abductors have asked for ransom of Rs. 10 million but still the police refuse to register the case and are also not investigating it as the abductions of Hindus are not a new thing and the routine business of Muslim fundamentalist groups.

It is feared by his family that he would be killed if he does not embrace Islam or pay the ransom.

The Hindu community remains under threats of abduction, forced conversion to Islam and persecution in the name of blasphemy since many years by the fundamentalist religious organizations that operate through their seminaries (Madressas). Most of the Madressas are not registered by the government but are free to operate with the patronage of the police.

CASE NARRATIVE:

Mr. Mohan Lal Menghwar, advocate, son of Karo Mal, resident of village Bhadisindhu, Chachro, district Tharparkar, Sindh province, was on the way to Sindh high court, Hyderabad bench, Hyderabad district, 56 kilometers away from his residence to attend the court proceedings. He proceeded in early morning at 5. 30 AM but when he did not reach the court it created a panic among the lawyers, clients and family members. In the evening at 7 PM local police informed the family that a car was found abandoned at Tando Jam taxi stand. When family members reached there they found the car of Mohan Lal and everything including the court files were there.

Police of three stations, Tando Adam, Tando Jam and Hyderabad, stopped the family members of the victim to file a First Information Report (FIR) and waited for the abductors' demand for ransom. After two days of his disappearance the police of Hyderabad district flatly refused to register the case. The district police officer says they would not file the case as one cannot say from which jurisdiction of which police station he was abducted. He told the family members that he was abducted from some other place and his car was put in the Tando Jam taxi stand therefore it is difficult to file the case.

Mr. Ladha Ram Sharma, the senior lawyer of the victim, has received a call from abductors for the ransom of Rs. 10 Million for his release. This was duly informed to the police who again refused to file the case. Police were taking the call of ransom very lightly and have yet to start its legal responsibility to act according the law. The police attitude is to accommodate the call of ransom.

It is alleged that provincial police know that he has been abducted by the Muslim religious groups who are operating freely in the areas of the Hindu population in the rural parts of the province through the seminaries. Forced conversion to Islam by the abduction of girls and their forcibly marriage to Muslims is common. The situation of abduction, rape and forced conversion has reached such a position that many Hindu families migrated to India among them are also Hindu legislators.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Murders, kidnappings, looting of Hindu families are on high all around the Pakistan. They are selling their properties at cheap rates and wrapping up their businesses at the cost of big losses. In the recent months 37 Hindus have left Pakistan for India due to security reasons. Hundreds of Hindu families leave Pakistan for India or other countries every year to find safe places for them. Fear has spread among the Sikhs and Hindus of Pakistan after the atrocious beheading incident involving a young Sikh man because of his refusal to convert. Furthermore, the Pakistani State has failed to protect the rights of the religious minorities which has left them feeling helpless while living with daily fear. Since the Taliban fanatics identify Pakistani Hindus as people of India, it has left Pakistani Hindus feeling helpless and with a sense of homelessness because they feel that they are being pushed out of Pakistan and at the same time not readily being accepted into their original home country.

The Asian Human Rights Commission has estimated that every year more Christians and Hindus are forcibly converted to Islam. An activist and council member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Amarnath Motumal, stated that Hindus are targeted due to many local Muslims seeing them as kafirs (non-Muslims) and therefore of lower class as well as evil. Threats are commonly given by the dangerous kidnappers that if they are reported, the families will hear of their daughter’s death. Motumal said that the word “Hindu” has become an insult and almost a shame for all Hindus in the Islamic state of Pakistan because of impoverished state 90% of Hindu families live in. He addressed that the government and others in power are to blame for the lack of rights available to the Hindu community....

Read it all. There is much more, including a suggested course of action.

I recently received this heartfelt email from a Pakistani who has converted from Islam to Christianity. It is like many others that I have received, and vividly illustrates the plight of apostates from Islam in Muslim countries -- a group whose human rights no one cares about, as the world continues to devote attention to the chimera of "Islamophobia."

This man told me to publish his name but I have decided not to do so, as doing so could get him killed. However, he is asking for help, help that I have no resources to give him, so if anyone reads this and can offer him some kind of assistance, please contact me at director[at]jihadwatch.org. (I have edited the grammar and spelling in the letter a bit for clarity.)

Dear sir,

I am a Pakistani who is a convert to Christianity, but I belong to a very strict religious family. My brother is Hafiz-e-Quran, my sister is alma fazla of Quran, and my dad and bro have beard, and my bro has a sound system business which he uses only for religious programs, not for songs or marriages.

I attend many Islamic programs with him, and from there I feel a bit strange when I see how big big religious people who talk about Islam in front of 1000's of people behave when they are alone backstage, and what their true face is, and how they fight with one another and talk shit about one another, and do not even care about Islam, which is their own religion -- and they are supposedly responsible for this religion.

So this forced me to think about many things, about religion. And in Lahore where I live, there is a big Christian community. Some friends with whom I grew up and studied belong to Christian families.

I talked with some friends in Europe who are Christian, and I talked with them about Christianity and Islam, and I have seen some videos, too, in which Christian scholars talk with Muslim scholars about religion, and the Muslim scholars cannot answer about many things that are written about in the Bible.

And it's true: once my dad saw me coming out of a church in Lahore with a Christian friend, and he was so angry, and he punished me. I ran away from my family. I have some relatives in Greece, my uncle and some cousins, and my dad's cousins. There are around 15 family members here, but even in Greece it was hard to practice my new religion openly because I was living with them, and in a new country with a new language. The situation in Greece is that they cannot protect us, because Greece is full of Muslim immigrants, and my relatives have been living here for 10 or 15 years, and thousands of people know them, and know me too. They know my family background and that I am a Muslim, so I kept my new religion secret and I tried to apply for asylum -- if I could get some papers, I can study and can go to any other place. But my uncle was with me when I applied, so I didn't tell them about my Christianity. And for 6 years I have had nothing.

Today I was reading your website, and I felt some relief, that there was someone who could understand my situation and could help me. I am making up my mind to go back to Pakistan, because life in Greece is the same as it is in Pakistan: no jobs, no freedom, no protection. I don't know what to do here; I feel as if I am imprisoned by my Muslim relatives. But in Pakistan it will be even harder for me to show my faith in Jesus.

I don't know what to do or where to go, or what kind of religion I was born into. I feel as if I am less near to God but more in fear of death, as I live in some demon's castle. I wrote some emails to the British and Canadian high embassies in Pakistan, and am writing to you, too.

I am scared to practice my new religion openly. I am not even a convert openly. I am just reading the Bible. My wish is to practice my beliefs as a Christian openly, but it's not possible because of my family and Islamic law. My own family and even the people of Pakistan will kill me, as they have killed the governor of Punjab. His own policeman killed him because the governor was helping a Christian woman.

I am educated, 28 years old. I need help from you if you know some church where I can live and study, and can covert openly. I don't know if you can help me or not, but some friends told me that I could write to some countries such as Canada and the USA, or European countries that can help Christians, and I do not know any one in Pakistan who will be able to help me.

I don't even know if you will read this email or not, but I wish Jesus would help me, and if I got a kind answer from you, I would be thankful. Or if you can refer me to some church, some Christian NGO. I want to write my feelings more and some black secrets of those Islamic mullahs, but i guess my email is so long and you have very precious time. God bless you, and I will wait for your kind answer.

This is a major U-turn on prior attempts to re-write the official account of Shahbaz Bhatti's death to make him the victim of a random crime, or even a dispute between Christians, rather than the target for assassination for criticizing the blasphemy law.

It is all the more exceptional considering the source, the interior minister, Rehman Malik, who has been one of the most vociferous defenders of the blasphemy law and an enemy of any and all speech that could at all be construed as "un-Islamic." Honestly, it seems too good to be true that this would be the end of the shell game in the "investigation" of Bhatti's death, but time will tell. If anyone deserves a break for once, it is Pakistan's Christians, by far.

"Muslim terrorists killed Shahbaz Bhatti, interior minister says," by Jibran Khan for Asia News, December 27:

Islamabad (AsiaNews) – Those who murdered Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a Catholic, belong to Sipah-e-Sahaba, a Muslim terrorist organisation, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said during a Christmas event at Islamabad’s Fatima Church. In cooperation with Interpol, Pakistani authorities are making all possible efforts to bring them back to Pakistan after they fled to Dubai. Paul Bhatti, brother of the slain minister and national harmony advisor to the prime minister, praised the Interior minister’s statement. "Rehman Malik`s statement will bring an end to the rumours that have been surfacing regarding Shahbaz Bhatti`s murder,” he said.

Police sources in Islamabad said the two suspects, Zia-ur-Rehman and Malik Abid, are already in Pakistan. Some local newspapers claimed instead that the murder was due to a dispute among relatives over assets and properties.

During some pre-Christmas events, Paul Bhatti called on the Water Ministry not to cut power to Churches during the Christmas period in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Attock, Chakwal and Jehlum, to allow Christians to celebrate christmas [sic] according to tradition without hindrance or problems. The ministry had planned a number of blackouts to save energy.

In Rawalpindi, the national harmony adviser visited disabled children at the St Joseph’s Hospice, bringing gifts. “I want to carry on my brother’s mission to serve humanity in order to create an atmosphere of peace, love and stability in the country since I do not seek political status or monetary benefits", Dr. Paul said.

This development, of course, does nothing about the blasphemy law. The final paragraph is included below because it could be enough to get an ordinary Pakistani Christian hauled in for blasphemy. After all, all Asia Bibi did was defend her faith.

“The core truth that makes Christmas such an extraordinarily special time is that God became a human being and, precisely because in the limitless vastness of his glory, he became one of us, his experience of our limitations has changed our experience of what it is to be human or better, has revealed what it is to be truly and fully human,” Mgr Rufin Anthony, bishop of Rawalpindi-Islamabad, said in his christmas [sic] message. “Because God became human, we can embrace our humanity fully, in ourselves and others. Because God became human, we can love without fear and forgive without recompense Because in becoming human, God has shown us that love is possible, that it works.”

Pamela Geller's "Exclusive Interview with Jailed Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi" ran at the Atlas Shrugs on Christmas Day. She was in contact with Asia Bibi through a Pakistani journalist and human rights activist. Her opening points about how restrictions on free speech about Islam are not limited to Pakistan, but are coming here as well in different forms, are very important.

Asia Bibi, a Christian woman, has been sentenced to death under Pakistan's notorious blasphemy law for insulting Islam. She is now in prison. The law is often used to settle grudges, persecute minorities and fan rage of the Islamic devout.

The same thing is coming here. The recent cancellation of my event by a Houston hotel, and the subsequent cancellation of an anti-Sharia conference in Nashville represent the first stage of the application of Islamic blasphemy laws here in America. Where full-on Sharia is enforced, "blasphemers" get the death penalty. Here in America, your character is assassinated.

As part of my work to aid those whose lives are threatened for leaving Islam, I have been in touch with Asia through a Pakistani journalist and human rights activist from the Masihi Foundation, which works for the human rights and education of Pakistani Christians. He recently visited Asia Bibi in prison and asked her questions I gave him. Here are her answers:

Pamela Geller: What happened when you were arrested?

Asia Bibi: When I was arrested, I was assaulted and harassed by the police. I was in a state of shock for many days. I fasted and prayed. My family has been in trouble; they have been moving one place to another. But I have forgiven the Muslims who put me and my family in this situation.

PG: How are you being treated?

AB: I live in a confined cell. I am allowed to go out for only 30 minutes every day, and allowed to meet my family for one hour every Tuesday. I am given raw material to cook for myself, since the administration fears I might be poisoned, as other Christians accused of blasphemy were poisoned or killed in the jail. The security on my duty is polite. Last week, a few hot words were exchanged with the warden over a minute issue, and she tried to strangle me. She has been suspended.PG: What are your expectations for the future?

AB: I pray and fast. I want to be with my family, hug my daughters, kiss them. I am waiting for a date from the Lahore High Court for the appeal regarding my death sentence. Life for All is supporting my family and has hired a lawyer for the case. A petition has been filed at the Lahore High Court asking them to accept the case for hearing. I am hopeful that I will be released, although there is a bounty of about $8,000 offered by the Islamic clerics to anyone who will kill me. I have left everything on God, I will accept His will.

PG: Do you have a message for the Christians of the U.S.?

AB: I request them to pray and do something for the Christians in Pakistan who are suffering and persecuted. There are many other Christians in jails who need help. The Christians in the U.S. can help the human rights organizations who fight for the persecuted, and become the voice of the voiceless.

Be sure to read it all.

Rumors have circulated for some time about the mistreatment of Asia Bibi in jail, and this story reports that she is recovering from a beating at the hands of a Muslim prison guard in October. Irfan Masih, another defendant for "blasphemy," is in the hospital after being stabbed.

Barack Obama should know these names. Hillary Clinton should know them. Their plights, that of Hector Aleem, and others, are as emblematic of all that is wrong with Pakistan as bin Laden's location under the nose of the Pakistani military. "Pakistan Refusing Christmas Day Visits To Jailed Christians," by Stefan J. Bos for BosNewsLife, December 25 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

LAHORE, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- A Christian mother of five sentenced to death on charges of "blasphemy" against Islam and over a dozen other Christians held in Pakistani jails spent Christmas Day without their families, after authorities refused requests to allow prison visits, well-informed Christians said.

Asia Bibi, 46, "is spending a third Christmas separated from her family as she awaits an appeal" against plans to execute her by hanging for “blasphemy”, Barnabas Fund, an advocacy group assisting her family, told BosNewsLife.

She is held in the high security District Jail Seikhupura, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) northwest of Lahore, the capital of Punjab province.

Bibi, a farm worker, was detained in June 2009 on charges of defiling the name of Islam's Prophet Mohammad during an argument with Muslim co-workers. She has denied wrongdoing.

She refused to convert to Islam.

"She is being kept in isolation for her own safety, and is able to see her children only twice a year because of the security risk to them."

Bibi herself has been recovering in her Pakistani jail after she was allegedly attacked and beaten unconscious by a Muslim prison officer in October, said the Pakistan Christian Congress (PCC) party earlier. Authorities pledged an investigation.

That helps to explain her fragile condition as described in this interview.

Later, a fellow believer held on blasphemy charges, Irfan Masih, was among others being attacked by Islamists on Tuesday, December 20, in a Kasur City jail, Christians said. He was reportedly seriously injured in the knife attack and was believed to be in a Lahore hospital on Christmas Day.

Despite security risks, Bibi's family "had an emotional reunion on December 13, carefully organized by a Christian couple who run the school that Asia’s daughters attend," Barnabas Fund explained.

"When the incarcerated mother saw her children, she naturally wanted to hug and kiss them but was not initially allowed any contact. The school director pleaded with the jail authorities and obtained permission for the family to meet in a separate room."...

The blasphemy laws are a supremacist tool aimed at scaring non-Muslims and dissenting Muslims into silence and keeping them in line according to the whims of their overlords, as are all assaults on free speech that aim to suppress criticism of Islam. "Harassment: Three Ahmedis accused under blasphemy laws," by Rana Tanveer for the Express Tribune, December 24 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

LAHORE: The police have registered cases under the blasphemy laws against a student and his father in Khushab and a headmaster in Gujrat, all three of them Ahmedis.

Morality policing is a cheap way for authorities to look pious and busy. If they are spending resources on this, there is something more constructive they could be doing that they are not doing, like, for example, investigating honor killings.

Sajeel Ahmed, 18, of Khushab was accused of making derogatory remarks about the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) in a first information report (FIR) registered under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), which carries the death penalty. The complainant is his classmate Waqas Nadeem, who said that Sajeel had tried to convert other students and made remarks that hurt their religious sentiments.

Sajeel’s father Hakim Jameel was accused of describing his son as a Muslim in his school admission form, an offence under Section 298-C of the PPC with a penalty of up to three years in prison. The complainant in the case is Qari Saeed Ahmed, who submitted that “the Muslims of Khushab are worried about the increasing number and activities of Qadianis in the city”.

That is what this is really about. The Ahmadis commit "blasphemy" by not disappearing.

Mujahid Ahmed, Sajeel’s brother, said that the police had registered the cases under pressure from religious leaders. “They have been making announcements at local mosques against Ahmedis and taking out protest rallies,” he said. He said that Qari Saeed had a long-term dispute with his father over property. He said that Saeed’s own son, a former teacher of Sajeel, had given police a statement in support of Sajeel. Previously, Jameel had said the charges against them were baseless.

Meanwhile in Gujrat, the police registered a case against Basharat Ahmed, headmaster at Government High Schools Kang Chanan, Gujrat, under Section 295-B of the PPC. He is accused of defiling the Holy Quran, an offence that can be punished with life imprisonment.

Ahmed allegedly snatched Arabic books from students who were cheating during exams at his school and threw the books in a pond. The complainant, Qari Mazhar Zargar, accused him of defiling Quranic verses written in those books.

Mubarik Ahmed Chaudhry, the brother of the accused headmaster, said that no one from the school had joined the case against his brother. He said that Zargar was being directed by people who had a property dispute with his brother.

“The teachers have all given statements to the police backing my brother. The police have been put under pressure by clerics here. The case has been registered six days after the alleged incident,” he said.

Sub Inspector Akhtar Shah, the investigation officer for the case, said that the headmaster had been arrested and investigations were ongoing.

A spokesman for the Jamaat-i-Ahmediya said that the community faced “an organised campaign of hatred and persecution” in Pakistan. “The campaign of hatred has reached new heights where even educational institutions are not safe for Ahmedi students and teachers,” he said.

“Such baseless cases against Ahmedis will not deter us,” he said. “This is not the first time that such cases have been registered against Ahmedis and will not be the last one. As in the past, these cases will also be proven false.”

He said that since 1984, 298 Ahmedis had been charged under the blasphemy laws.

Will the Islamophobia never end? "Heightened terror threat at churches on Christmas," by Asad Kharal for The Express Tribune, December 19 (thanks to all who sent this in):

LAHORE: The police met with Christian leaders to discuss security measures at churches on Monday, after intelligence reports warned of a heightened threat of terrorist attacks on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The intelligence report named 20 churches in Lahore as “sensitive”, while describing security at all 433 churches in the city as “inadequate”.

The report said that terrorists planned to target Christian gatherings on December 24 and 25.

The report was forwarded to the capital city police officer (CCPO) and others asking that the police act to secure Christian places of worship, particularly the 20 most vulnerable churches.

DOG (Operations) Ghulam Mahmood Dogar met with Christian leaders later on Monday to discuss security, according to a press release. He said that 2,000 policemen would be deployed to protect the 433 churches in the city and all security arrangements would be finalised by December 22.

The police categorised 38 churches in the city as most vulnerable to attack. The DIG said that each of these ‘category A’ churches would get a deployment of one officer and seven junior personnel including snipers to be deployed on rooftops.

The DIG said that walkthrough gates would be installed at the category A churches and that policewomen and Christian volunteers would search people with metal detectors at A and B category churches.

He said that 39 churches were in category B, 187 in C and 179 in D.

Asked if he was satisfied with the security measures, Reverend Shahid Mehraj of the Lahore Cathedral Church, who attended the meeting, said the country was in a war-like situation and it was a dangerous place.

“Security lapses are always possible,” he said, “but we can’t just blame the government and its agencies for that, it is also the public’s responsibility.”

CCPO Ahmed Raza Tahir said that the police would do their best to ensure “foolproof security” at churches, particularly at those declared vulnerable....

Yet another. This woman is Turkish, not Pakistani. That makes it likely that the only interest she would have in sending money to Pakistan to pay for attacks on U.S. forces was motivated by Islam's jihad doctrine. But that will once again be glossed over or ignored entirely by investigating authorities. "California woman faces terrorism-related charge," from the Associated Press, December 21 (thanks to Kenneth):

LOS ANGELES (AP) – A woman was indicted Wednesday on charges accusing her of sending money to Pakistan to help fund terrorist attacks against U.S. military personnel, authorities said.

Oytun Ayse Mihalik, 39, of La Palma, faces three counts of providing material support to terrorists and one count of making a false statement. If convicted of all counts, Mihalik could face up to 53 years in prison.

Mihalik funneled about $2,000 to a person in Pakistan over a three-week period beginning late last year, knowing the money would be used to prepare for and carry out attacks against the U.S. military and others overseas, federal prosecutors said....

Mihalik, who worked as a pharmacist, has been in federal custody since she was arrested in August after she attempted to board a flight to Turkey, her native country....

Mihalik lied to federal agents during an interview at Los Angeles International Airport following a six-month trip to Turkey by telling them she never used an alias to wire money overseas and she had only sent funds once, authorities said.

She told investigators the money was meant for a family friend who was having financial problems, according to an affidavit. Authorities wouldn't elaborate about how they know the money Mihalik wired overseas was going to be used for terrorist attacks.

However, court documents reveal Mihalik's arrest is "related to national security investigations in other areas of the United States." As of August, Mihalik had been cooperating with investigators, records show.

"The charges are based on the defendant's intent to cause harm to U.S. military personnel," said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles. "We have not alleged any attacks that may have resulted from the funding because the legal issue is the defendant's intent as to what the money would be used for."...

They're working hard in Pakistan to ensure the Muslim world doesn't slip from being responsible 91 percent of honor killings worldwide.

As this report notes, there is no law against domestic violence. Such legislation stalled out in the assembly in 2009 with resistance on Islamic grounds. It would run the risk of prohibiting something Allah made lawful: hitting (yes, hitting) "disobedient" women (Qur'an 4:34).

Islamic law is also inconsistent at best on whether parents face any penalty for killing their children. The relatives carrying out the killings clearly feel they are justified in what they are doing, and are confident they will not only avoid severe penalties, but earn respect for their brutality.

Behavior that is rewarded tends to be repeated. "675 Pakistan 'honour killing' victims: commission," from Agence France-Presse, December 20:

At least 675 Pakistani women and girls were murdered during the first nine months of the year for allegedly defaming their family's honour, a leading human rights group said Tuesday.

The statistics highlight the scale of violence suffered by many women in conservative Muslim Pakistan, where they are frequently treated as second-class citizens and there is no law against domestic violence.

Despite some progress on better protecting women's rights, activists say the government needs to do far more to prosecute murderers in cases largely dismissed by police as private, family affairs.

"A total of 675 women and girls were killed in the name of honour across Pakistan from January to September," a senior official in the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan told AFP.

They included at least 71 victims under the age of 18.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is unauthorised to speak to the media, said figures were still being compiled from October to December, and that a full report would be released in February.

The Commission reported 791 honour killings in 2010 and there was no discernible decrease this year, the official added.

Around 450 of the women killed from January to September were accused of having "illicit relations" and 129 of marrying without permission.

Some victims were raped or gangraped before being killed, he said. At least 19 were killed by their sons, 49 by their fathers and 169 by their husbands.

Rights groups say the government should do more to ensure that women subject to violence, harassment and discrimination have effective access to justice.

Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan director at Human Rights Watch, told AFP that the state's inability to enforce rule of law, leaving matters in the hands of tribesmen and local elders, was a major factor.

"We have a system in Pakistan where the state and judicial recourse are absent and the vacuum is filled by local elders," he said.

"A combination of legal reforms, exercise of administrative authority and social awareness can greatly help check the honour killings," he added.

Earlier this month, a Belgian court sentenced four members of a Pakistani family to prison for the murder of their daughter and sister, who defied them by living with a Belgian man and refusing an arranged marriage.

As this story notes, resistance to stronger legislation against domestic violence has come from "religious parties" -- that is, those who will tolerate no limitations on the reach of Islamic law. Moving against domestic violence threatens to criminalize what Allah made lawful: the principle that a man can hit (yes, hit) a woman in his household from whom he fears disobedience (Qur'an 4:34).

Does the Qur'an say to disfigure one's wife with a razor? No. But this case is a consequence of the culture of tolerance toward and defense of domestic violence: the husband clearly felt he was justified in this act, and liked his odds of getting away with it.

Most tellingly, if he were simply hitting his wife, it would not have made the news. "Man chops off wife's nose and lips," from Agence France-Presse, December 19:

A teenage Pakistani woman on Monday told of her terror as her husband chopped off her nose and lips in a furious marital row, and threatened to kill herself unless the police brought him to justice.

The horrifying case underscores the brutal violence suffered by some women in Pakistan, where a domestic violence bill lapsed in 2009 after being held up in the Senate due to objections from religious parties.

Salma Bibi, 17, said her husband, 22-year-old Ghulam Qadir, subjected her to a beating, then bound her hands and feet with rope and hacked into her face with a razor in a remote village in the southwestern province Baluchistan.

"He repeatedly slapped my face and then went into the room and brought with him a locally made, sharp razor," she told AFP, speaking Baluchi in remarks translated by her uncle from a hospital bed in central Multan city.

"I started shouting in panic. He tied my hands and foot with a rope and chopped off my nose and lips," she added.

The teenager said police refused to register a case when her family complained about the attack, and threatened to kill herself without justice.

"I want justice and if it is not delivered to me, I will immolate myself in front of the Supreme Court.

"I will not sit in peace until my husband is brought to justice and gets punishment for the crime he committed," she added.

Ghulam and Salma married last year and live in the village of Karkana, 475 kilometres (300 miles) southwest of Islamabad.

Local officials insisted they were searching for Ghulam and would arrest him when caught.

"They often had quarrels as the girl used to spend more time with her parents," said Nadir Khan, an administration official in Musa Khel district, part of violence-torn Baluchistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has demanded action in the case, but many cases of violence against women in Pakistan go unpunished.

Human rights groups say Pakistani women suffer severe discrimination and widespread domestic violence, including so-called "honour" killings when a victim is murdered for allegedly bringing dishonour on her family.

Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan director at Human Rights Watch, told AFP that domestic violence is a "serious, endemic problem in Pakistan" and called on the government to revive efforts to outlaw domestic violence.

But he praised the current parliament for a "fairly impressive" record on passing other legislation designed to protect women's rights....

If that means we would save our money, I'm all for it.

Tiny Minority of Extremists Update: "Pakistani President Returns From Medical Treatment," by Ashraf Khan for the Associated Press, December 18 (thanks to Wimpy):

[...] More than 30,000 Islamists rallied against the U.S. in the eastern city of Lahore on Sunday, demanding Islamabad cut off ties with Washington. The protest highlighted the ability of hard-liners to bring their supporters into the streets, as well as lasting anger over the attack, which has complicated U.S. efforts to enlist Pakistan's cooperation on the Afghan war.

The U.S. has expressed its condolences for the airstrikes, but this has done little to calm anger in Pakistan's military, which has claimed the attack was deliberate. Pakistan has already retaliated by closing its Afghan border to supplies meant for NATO troops in Afghanistan and kicking the U.S. out of an air base used by American drones.

"All agreements (with the U.S.) should be terminated," Hafiz Saeed, the head of the group that organized Sunday's protest, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, told the crowd. "We say all agreements terminated the day the attack happened."

Jamaat-ud-Dawa is widely considered to be the front group for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant organization that was started with help from the Pakistani government to fight archenemy India, but has been officially banned under international pressure.

Lashkar-e-Taiba is blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people. India has demanded Pakistan crack down on the group, but Islamabad has shown little willingness to go after Lashkar-e-Taiba or Jamaat-ud-Dawa.

Protesters at Sunday's rally shouted, "A friend of the USA and India is a traitor."

Pakistan's alleged tolerance for Islamist militant groups has been one of the main sources of tension with the U.S. Washington has been especially frustrated with Islamabad's refusal to target the Afghan Taliban and their allies and has even accused the country's intelligence agency of supporting the groups.

Yet another Christian victimized by Pakistan's blasphemy laws, the repeal of which should be at the forefront of international human rights initiatives. "Blasphemy case: Christian man arrested for burning Quranic pages," from the Express Tribune, December 7:

LAHORE: Shahdara police have arrested a Christian man after a charged mob blocked GT Road for three hours demanding that he be booked in a blasphemy case for burning pages of the Holy Quran.

The police registered an FIR under Section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code against Khurram Masih on the complaint of Zulfiqar Ali and arrested him on Monday night. Masih was produced before a judicial magistrate on Wednesday and remanded in judicial custody.

A mob of about a thousand people wielding sticks took to GT Road at Shahdara Chowk and blocked traffic with burning tyres on both sides of the road.

They damaged several vehicles and later ransacked Shahdara Town police station. Senior police officials went to the scene and appeased the protesters with promises to arrest the accused.

According to the FIR, Masih lived with his wife in a rented property in Majeed Park, Shahdara Town. On Monday his neighbour, also a tenant, told the property owner, Zulfiqar Ali, that the couple had burnt pages of the Holy Quran to light a fire to make tea.

He also told people in the neighbourhood and they began gathering outside the property and chanting slogans. Meanwhile, the couple fled to the house of a nearby relative.

Ali, the complainant, told The Express Tribune that he had visited the house after hearing of the incident and had seen burnt pages with Arabic verses on them, from a Quranic reader (qaeda). He said he had helped trace down the couple at their relative’s house and had them arrested.

“I had no choice,” he said. “Things were getting out of hand. I do not know where all the protestors came from.”

He said that only Masih had been arrested because he had made the tea, as his wife was asleep at the time.

Inspector Mian Shafqat Ali, who is in charge of the investigation, said that it had been established that the accused had burnt Quranic pages “intentionally”. He said that Masih’s wife had been released after interrogation as she had no role in the incident.

But it will probably thaw out eventually

This is long overdue. The only problem with it is that probably the money will go through eventually. A freeze is not what it should be: a cancellation.

"US Congress freezes $700 million in aid for Pakistan," by Lillian Rizzo for Global Post, December 13 (thanks to Kenneth):

A US Congressional panel froze $700 million in aid to Pakistan until the country gives assurances it is joining the fight against the spread of homemade bombs in the region, Reuters reported.

The Pakistanis, surprise of surprises, claimed victim status and issued threats:

The latest move by the United States may only further hurt ties with Pakistan and contribute to the growing sense of anti-Americanism in the population, a senior Pakistani official told NBC News. The relationship between the two counties suffered greatly in May when US forces killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan....

Still, the freeze in aid, which is a part of a defense bill expected to be passed by Congress later this week, could cause further cuts, the BBC reported. The US has given about $20 billion in security and economic aid to Pakistan since 2001, mostly in the form of reimbursements for assistance in fighting militants. Congress says Islamabad has not only failed to act against the militant groups, it has actively provided help to them in some cases, the BBC reported.

After news of the US cut in aid, members of the Pakistani government immediately said this will further hurt the relationship between the US and Pakistan....

Nothing hurts that relationship more than the Pakistani involvement in the global jihad, but as always, that remains unstated.

Catch-22: Report the rape without four witnesses, and risk being thrown into jail for adultery. Try to hide it for fear of adultery charges and other reprisals, and get thrown into jail for "concealing" it. A similar charge was tacked onto the much more widely known case of Gulnaz in Afghanistan.

"Victim gets jail term for concealing rape," by Shabbir Mir for the Express Tribune, December 12 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

A rape victim has been sentenced to six months in prison for ‘concealing’ the incident involving her own son-in-law in a remote village of northern Gilgit-Baltistan region.

The district and sessions court in Ghakuch Valley, the headquarters for Ghizer district and about 80 kilometres from Gilgit, also handed down a 15-year imprisonment to the rapist.

Local police has confirmed that the man is in their custody.

The case came to the police knowledge after the victim gave birth to a baby in a local hospital. She revealed during the course of investigation that she had been raped by her son-in-law Liaqat Ali, a businessman from Mansehra district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

She said that the rapist had bullied her into silence. “He had threatened to kill my family if I disclosed the incident.

“I had no option but to keep my mouth shut,” a source quoted her as telling the investigators.

Following her statement, the police registered the case and proceeded with legal action.

The intrepid mujahedin, keeping the world safe from physical fitness and independent access to information, at least for girls. Wherever Pakistan has ceded sovereignty, for all practical purposes, to the Taliban and other jihadist movements, it has written off the future of the girls living in those areas as collateral damage.

"Agents of change: Girls armed with education fight for their rights," from Pakistan Press International, December 9:

Armed with only a slightly used copy book sent by her aunt from Peshawar, Azeera Gul, 12, is fighting for the rights of girls to education. Although her school in Kabal in the Swat Valley is still in a ramshackle state after being burnt down during the Taliban insurgency in 2008, Gul insists she wants to become a schoolteacher and educate girls in her village.

Gul is not alone in wishing to bring change to her valley. One story that galvanised the international media is that of Malala Yousafzai.

In 2009, she began campaigning from her remote village in Shangla in Swat against the Taliban for the right to education for girls.

She was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize for her pioneering efforts to raise awareness on restricted access to education in her homeland. Her nomination brought home the problems of Swat to millions in the country and won her national recognition with an award from the prime minister.

She is not the only young campaigner. “I want to become a doctor,” said Ludia Bibi, 14, from Mingora. “That is the only way I can help people here and make sure women in particular get the care they need.”

Maria Toor Pakai, 19, grew up in South Waziristan, where women rarely venture out of their homes. She defied tradition by playing squash and now she is a top-ranking national player.

“I knew my daughter was different and I wished to encourage her,” said Maria’s father, Shamsul Qayyum Wazir, who took her to Peshawar in 2002, eager to grant her the opportunity she would have been denied at home.

“We had received threats from the Taliban warning us to stop her from playing,” he said.

Today, Pakai lives and trains in Toronto, her story an inspiration for others. “I always think of the hard rocks of my land, and how tough they made me,” she said.

But while these young women have fought back, others find it harder to do so. “I want my daughters to have a better life than I do, but it is hard,” said Ujala Gul, 40, a mother of three girls who lives in a village near Saidu Sharif. “I am afraid they will end up as powerless housewives just like me, subservient to their husbands.”

Even so, the girls seem more determined than boys given the harder struggle that lies ahead for them. “I feel I must do something with my life. Things must change otherwise girls and women will never have enough options,” Samira Ahmed, 12, told IRIN. She is helping to run classes near Kabal for girls who are not able to go to school.

“There are so many little girls here who could change the future. I have educated daughters and I know they can change the family’s destiny. That’s why I want to help all those I can,” said Mullahzai Tauqir, 65, a grandfather and retired teacher who now runs voluntary classes for out-of-school children near Mingora.

“I think my efforts and theirs will one day make a real difference and bring about change.”

Daryl Cagle captures the ridiculous kowtowing and ongoing jizya payments to the double-dealing jihad state of Pakistan. (Thanks to Maxwell.)

The striking thing about this story is that it appears to be a virtual draw between whether the "nude" "photo" (a blind man could detect the digital editing from across the room) or the mockery of the Pakistani intelligence organization is more of an outrage. Within this story lies the tacit admission that both the Pakistani and Indian public understand the ISI operates above and outside of the law, as it directs Pakistan's double game and its proxy jihadists against India, Afghanistan, and NATO.

"Pakistani model's nude photo causes fury," by Asif Shahzad for the Associated Press, December 3:

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Pakistani actress who posed in the nude for an Indian magazine with the initials of Pakistan's feared and powerful intelligence agency on her arm has triggered fury across this conservative nation.

Veena Malik's photo on the website of FHM India, in advance of its publication in the magazine's December issue, has been lighting up social network websites since earlier this week.

Many here anticipate a backlash, as nationalists and Islamists regularly stage rallies against anything they deem an insult to Islam or to the national honor. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency or ISI has been accused of sponsoring terrorist attacks inside India.

Malik has broken Pakistani religious and national taboos in the past. She is a target for conservative ire and a heroine to some Pakistani liberals.

Conservative cleric Maulana Abdul Qawi declared on Aaj TV on Saturday that her latest venture into controversy was a "shame for all Muslims."

In an interview with Pakistani Geo television broadcast Saturday, however, Malik said the nude photo was published in violation of her agreement with FHM India and she was considering legal action against the magazine.

Malik acknowledged having been photographed for a "bold but not nude shot." She said the editor of the magazine had promised that he would cover most of the photo with the ISI initials.

The photo was intended to poke fun at the Indian fear of Pakistani spies, she said, adding "whatever happens (in India), people say ISI is behind that."...