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Interfaith outreach in Pakistan: Four Christians arrested for “distributing religious materials”

May 26, 2014 1:31 pm By Robert Spencer

PAKISTAN_-_cristiani_arrestati_okShhhh! Do not speak of this! “Talk about extreme, militant Islamists and the atrocities that they have perpetrated globally might undercut the positive achievements that we Catholics have attained in our inter-religious dialogue with devout Muslims.” — Robert McManus, Roman Catholic Bishop of Worcester, Massachusetts, February 8, 2013.

Those “positive achievements” don’t include doing a thing to stop this. “Sindh, four Christians arrested for ‘distributing religious materials,'” by Jibran Khan, Asia News, May 20, 2014:

Islamabad ( AsiaNews) – The four evangelical Christians arrested on May 18 on charges of distributing material of a religious nature in the vicinity of the station Mirpur Khas, Sindh province appeared today in court. Those arrested are: Younis Masih, his wife Nazia and two other women named Mary Rose and Kiran. A Muslim religious leader, belonging to the Islamist Sunnat wal Jammat movement, read the material and, realizing that it was Christian literature, immediately reported the four to the police. Shortly after their being detained, a crowd surrounded the train station with the intention of punishing the four. In order to prevent further accidents and to maintain control of the situation , the police ordered their immediate arrest and escorted the group to the nearest barracks . Prosecutors have opened an investigation file , for violations of Article 298-506 A- II -295, which punishes those who dishonor and desecrate religion.

Outside the barracks a group of extremists began to chant slogans and songs praising Islam , while calling for exemplary punishment for those arrested . Now the investigation has been passed on to the judiciary, ahead of a probable trial; for reasons of public order , the four Christians were transferred to the prison in Hyderabad amid tight security. There is currently no more information regarding the four Christians and whether they were operating in the name of or on behalf of any religious organization . Today the judge for preliminary investigations ordered their detention and adjourned the trial to Friday 23 May, pending a completion of the investigation. They are likely to be tried for inciting unrest of a religious nature.

Fr. Arshad John of the Archdiocese of Karachi, engaged in the protection of minority rights, says “The claims that the religious minorities are free to practice and preach their religion, is clearly evident from this act. Although the act of distributing the religious material and preaching in such areas is not very wise, in the past such cases have produced unfortunate results. We pray for the group and hope they will be released soon.”

With a population of more than 180 million people (97 per cent Muslim), Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world, the second largest Muslim nation after Indonesia. About 80 per cent of Muslims are Sunni, whilst Shias are 20 per cent. Hindus are 1.85 per cent, followed by Christians (1.6 per cent) and Sikhs (0.04 per cent). Violence against ethnic and religious minorities is commonplace across the country, with Shia Muslims and Christians as the main target, with things getting worse. Dozens of episodes , including targeted attacks against entire communities – such as in Gojra in 2009 or Joseph Colony Lahore last year – or places of worship (Peshawar in September last year) or abuses against individuals ( Sawan Masih and Asia Bibi, Rimsha Masih or the young Robert Fanish Masih, who also died in his cell), are often perpetrated under the pretext of the blasphemy laws.

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Filed Under: Muslim persecution of Christians, Pakistan Tagged With: featured


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Comments

  1. Oliver says

    May 26, 2014 at 2:25 pm

    Just curious, of the Muslim population (about 174,600,000 using 97% of 180 million) what per- centage is LITERATE– NOT COLLEGE LITERATE, BUT ( THE US EQUIVALENT) OF SAY 4TH OR 5TH GRADE LITERATE.

    I doubt id more then 10%; considering their attacks ( and murders) of health workers; etc.

  2. islamisdeath says

    May 26, 2014 at 4:32 pm

    Only Franklin Graham has the guts to speak out about this!

    The leftys world wide secretly rejoice as Christians are the hated ones! I mean my God Christians are not for gay marriage and what not!

    Poor fools their buds the mo’s will murder you for being gay let alone allowing gays marriage but no matter its the Christians they hate!

  3. Salah says

    May 27, 2014 at 12:32 am

    Number Christians in Pakistan according to sheikh Al-Qataani:
    “..from eighty thousand Christians in 1947 to six million in 2000.”

    …and counting!

    Exaggerated optimism? not so sure. Numbers talk, especially when they come from a Muslim scholar.

    http://crossmuslims.blogspot.ca/2010/05/dying-islam-lislam-mourant.html

  4. Mirren10 says

    May 27, 2014 at 6:52 am

    ”Question,..What do Pakistan & Israel have in common,.?

    Answer,..In both countries you can get jail time for passing out Christian literature”

    What utter crap. Provide some evidence that Christians are put in jail in **Israel** for passing out Christian literature.

    You really are a complete and utter moron, and as I said before, waaay out of your league here.

    • Mirren10 says

      May 27, 2014 at 9:37 am

      ”P.S. Please forgive any spelling errors, as I have poor eyesight, & cannot proof read properly,..”

      You don’t *comprehend* what you read either.

      Some media sources indicate that proselytizing is illegal in Israel (AP 24 Sept. 2007; Israel Faxx 6 May 2008). However, according to several other sources, such as Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) and the International Religious Freedom Report 2007, **Israeli legislation allows proselytizing as long as it is devoid of coercion in the form of economic incentives (US 14 Sept. 2007, Sec. II; Courrier international 29 Mar. 2007; AP 22 June 2008; HRWF 12 Feb. 2007) or emotional incentives (ibid.). Citing a lawyer from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, an AP article notes that missionaries have a “‘right according to freedom of religion to maintain their religious lifestyle and disseminate their beliefs, including through literature'”** ( my emphasis: Mirren) (AP 22 June 2008). An article that appeared in Courrier international, which names the Hebrew-language daily Yedi’ot Aharonot as its source, indicates that proselytizers who use coercion or incentives may face up to five years in prison or a fine (Courrier international 29 Mar. 2007). While conversions involving adults are legal, any person found encouraging or organizing the conversion of a minor faces up to six months’ imprisonment (ibid.). In March 2007, Yakov Margi, a minister of the Knesset (MK) belonging to the Shas party, proposed a bill that would punish any missionary work with a six-month to one year period of imprisonment (ibid.; Yad L’Achim 7 Mar. 2007; ibid. 1 Apr. 2008). Further information on this bill could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

      Israelis who feel that their rights have been infringed upon by a government agency because of “any action [or omission or a delay in acting] taken contrary to law, without lawful authority, contrary to sound administration or that involves too inflexible an attitude or a flagrant injustice” may file an oral complaint with the Ombudsman’s office at any of its five branches located throughout the country (Israel 26 Mar. 2002

      Bugger off back to Stormfront, you nasty little pos. No-one here is buying your bulls*!$.

  5. bewick says

    May 27, 2014 at 9:31 am

    time for a bit of reciprocity.

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