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Pakistan acquits and releases 115 Muslims accused of burning down 150 Christian homes over “blasphemy”

Jan 31, 2017 9:35 am By Christine Douglass-Williams

Pakistan regularly claims to the world that it wants to partner with the West to fight jihad terrorism, while all too many of its citizens keep on demonstrating a propensity for violence against innocent Christians, manipulating the nation’s harsh and unjust blasphemy law with official sanction. In this case, Pakistani officials released 115 Muslims who were accused of burning down 150 homes of Christians “over alleged blasphemy of the Prophet Muhammad.”

The March 8, 2013, attack was seen as the largest anti-Christian violence since the attacks in 2009 that killed nine Christians in the town of Gojra in the same province of Punjab.

Regarding Pakistan’s barbarous blasphemy law:

The Pakistani government…. even after hundreds of innocent citizens have been murdered and hundreds of others are languishing in prisons, has yet to make any amendments to provide safeguards against their misuse.

In Pakistan, it is routine for Muslims to falsely accuse Christians for blaspheming Islam, sometimes as revenge in a dispute. Such a case made headlines when Christian mother Asia Bibi, who has been jailed and awaiting execution since 2009, got into an argument with a group of Muslim women because she dared to drink out of the same cup while working in a field. The women then accused her of blasphemy after she stood up to them. Pakistani Muslims have threatened riots if Bibi is released, and 150 Muslim clerics have demanded her death.

“Pakistan Acquits All 115 Suspects in Burning of Christians’ Homes”, by Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post, January 29, 2017:

A court in Pakistan on Saturday cited lack of evidence to acquit all 115 suspects in the burning of more than 150 houses of Christians in 2013 over alleged blasphemy of the Prophet Muhammad.

Chaudhry Muhammad Azam, Lahore’s anti-terrorism court judge, said the prosecutors failed to produce sufficient evidence against the accused, who had been charged under various laws, including the Anti-Terrorism Act, attempted murder, robbery, arson and terrorism, according to The Indian Express.

A prosecution lawyer, however, disputed the judge’s conclusion and was quoted as saying, “This incident not only spread a wave of terrorism in Lahore but also brought a bad to name to Pakistan.”

The March 8, 2013, attack was seen as the largest anti-Christian violence since the attacks in 2009 that killed nine Christians in the town of Gojra in the same province of Punjab.

Police arrested the accused two days after a mob of about 3,000 Muslims armed with sticks, clubs and stones burned at least 150 houses of Christians, a church and shops in the Joseph Colony area in Lahore over allegations that a Christian had made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad.

After the incident, a Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, reprimanded the government of Punjab and the province’s police for failing to protect members of the minority community. Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh, a member of the bench, said the violence took place “right under the nose of Punjab Police and there was total inaction.”

The court also said at the time that police at the “highest level” may have been told not to take action when the violence erupted.

The accused in the blasphemy case, identified as 26-year-old Sawan Masih, and the complainant, his Muslim friend identified as Imran Shahid, had quarreled under the influence of liquor, but the latter claimed it was a case of insulting the Prophet Muhammad.

“Both Imran and Sawan are close friends and the former has made the allegation only to settle a personal score because they had quarreled over some petty matter,” a local resident, Dilawar Masih, who lost his house and shop in the attack, was quoted as saying at the time. He added that the attackers burned their houses even after the accused had been arrested.

Blasphemy is punishable by life in prison or even death in Pakistan.

The blasphemy law, embedded in Sections 295 and 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code, is frequently misused to target religious minorities – Christians, Shi’as, Ahmadiyyas and Hindus – and allows Islamists and others to justify killings. Extremist Islamists believe that killing a “blasphemous” person earns a heavenly reward.

Just an accusation under the controversial law is enough to have a person arrested, and there is no provision to punish a false accuser or a false witness of blasphemy. Some local Muslims seek revenge by making an allegation against his or her adversary who is a non-Muslim…

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Filed Under: blasphemy, Featured, Muhammad, Muslim persecution of Christians, Pakistan Tagged With: Lahore, Pakistan Penal Code


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Comments

  1. Lesley says

    Jan 31, 2017 at 9:51 am

    I think a measure to ban child marriage in Pakistan also failed because Mohammed married Aisha at 6 and consummated at 9 :-((

    I hope Pakistan makes it on the temporary ban list. Imrun Khan (spelling ?) is right– stopping immigration from Pakistan will encourage the functional people to fight for their own country instead of just leaving.

    • gravenimage says

      Jan 31, 2017 at 11:37 pm

      You aren’t wrong, Lesley:

      “Pakistan: Bill banning child marriage fails after it’s deemed un-Islamic”

      https://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/01/pakistan-bill-banning-child-marriage-fails-after-its-deemed-un-islamic

      I hope Pakistan makes the list, too–but not because we get the “best people”, but because we also get Jihadists like Tashfeen Malik–one of the San Bernardino shooters–and Faisal Shahzad, who tried to blow up Times Square.

      • Lesley says

        Feb 1, 2017 at 10:27 am

        Agreed, gravenimage :-/

        Islam has made such a mess for humanity 🙁

  2. john spielman says

    Jan 31, 2017 at 9:54 am

    Pakistan- your TYPICAL CRAPISTAN!

    • Pastor C says

      Jan 31, 2017 at 12:43 pm

      One of the nations left, rather conspicuously, off the list!

  3. no_one says

    Jan 31, 2017 at 10:06 am

    I hope ban applies to Pakistan soon. US should give asylum to the persecuted only and this is non-Muslim.

  4. mortimer says

    Jan 31, 2017 at 10:06 am

    This sort of blasphemy law is coming to the Parliament of Canada. Canadians, wake up! Don’t let them take your freedom to criticize Islam.

    ‘If the freedom of speech is removed, deaf and dumb we may be led to the slaughter.’ – George Washington

    • Jaladhi says

      Jan 31, 2017 at 10:26 am

      Canada is firmly in Islamic camp now!

  5. Angemon says

    Jan 31, 2017 at 10:12 am

    Extremist Islamists believe that killing a “blasphemous” person earns a heavenly reward.

    “Extremists”? That’s mainstream islam:

    quran 4:74:

    So let those fight in the cause of Allah who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter. And he who fights in the cause of Allah and is killed or achieves victory – We will bestow upon him a great reward.

    • gravenimage says

      Jan 31, 2017 at 11:39 pm

      So true, Angemon.

  6. dwight hogg says

    Jan 31, 2017 at 10:16 am

    People are rightly sorry for the attack on the mosque in Quebec, Canada. People are out demonstrating against this and are demonstrating all over the world against Trump’s ban on immigration from terrorist countries. For years in the Middle East, Pakistan, Iran etc Christians have been attacked, their churches and houses burnt down and they have been killed – where have all these sanctimonious demonstrators been all these years to support Christians in these countries . ??????

    • ElderlyZionist says

      Jan 31, 2017 at 11:36 am

      So true. +1

    • gravenimage says

      Jan 31, 2017 at 11:41 pm

      The shooter was screaming “Allahu Akbar!”–that still does not sound like an Infidel to me…

  7. James Sutton says

    Jan 31, 2017 at 10:24 am

    Unfortunately, this is just more proof that Pakistan is an uncivilized country populated by tribal savages. They should be kicked out of the United Nations until they make lasting reforms to stop child marriage, slavery, honor killings, abuse of religious minorities, and the protection of civil rights.

    • Anne Smith says

      Feb 1, 2017 at 7:52 am

      It is an extremely uncivilised country and I have been there many times. It is tragic that because of the British Empire links so many have been allowed to enter Great Britain. They have not brought redeeming features with them, the Rotherham child rape scandal (1400 young girls raped and tortured) was by men of Pakistani families.

      One Council is full of Muslim Councillors who all obtained their wives from Pakistan. The amount of importation of wives in arranged marriages is a disgrace and an affront to English people, some of whom have spent years trying to get their relatives permission to join them, and remain, from places like Australia or South Africa.

  8. mortimer says

    Jan 31, 2017 at 11:50 am

    Under Sharia law, a Christian may not testify against a Muslim. Therefore, no witness, no crime. What crime?

  9. Keith Gilbert says

    Jan 31, 2017 at 2:31 pm

    The MUD people of Pakistan, pakis…have nuclear weapons; making of them the #1 target for nuclear retaliation when the shit really hits the fan and we, all of US, are it’s beneficiaries.

    • gravenimage says

      Jan 31, 2017 at 11:46 pm

      This has nothing to do with their being “mud people”–this is about ideology, not race. Pakistani Christians and Hindus are civilized people.

      And white converts to Islam are just as barbaric as are non-white Muslims.

  10. Walter Sieruk says

    Jan 31, 2017 at 4:45 pm

    Many time such so called “blasphemy ” by Christians is nothing more than a Bible based statement by a Christian. Such as if a Christian saying that “Jesus is the Son of God the Father.” The statement is very biblical As seen in ,for example, Matthew 3:16,17. 16;15,15. John 3:16-18. 36, Luke 1:35. First John 2:22,23. 4:14,15. 5:12,13. What’s more many of the Muslim apologists for Islam in the West have ,many times over, made the claim that Islam teaches Muslim to respect the Bible. In view of everything this must be an empty totally false claim or this “respect’ given by Muslin towards the Bible is a very limited half- -hearted kind of “respect.” By observation through the years is seems that many Muslims only have “interest” or “respect” only if they happen to find an isolated Bible verse whenever it suites their Islamic worldview. In addition such an isolated Bible verse is usually taken out of context with that whole Bible chapter,

  11. Veka Fitzfrancis says

    Jan 31, 2017 at 5:59 pm

    “Close friend”? no friend of mine would try to get me killed over a disagreement.

    • gravenimage says

      Jan 31, 2017 at 11:50 pm

      Very true–I’m sure none of your close friends are Muslim, though…

  12. Jack says

    Jan 31, 2017 at 6:56 pm

    Time to bar Pakistanis from entereing the US and cut off the billion or two dollars that we send them.

  13. gravenimage says

    Jan 31, 2017 at 11:23 pm

    Pakistan acquits and releases 115 Muslims accused of burning down 150 Christian homes over “blasphemy”
    ………………………

    Probably the only surprise here is that they were ever arrested in the first place.

    We should cut off *all* aid to Pakistan while they treat Christians and other religious minorities like this. And Pakistan needs to be added to the list of countries on the moratorium of entry to United States.

  14. Anne Smith says

    Feb 1, 2017 at 7:55 am

    It is amazing the amount of aid received by Pakistan. Not only from the USA but millions from Britain as well and probably from other stupid countries who also do not wish to look after their own aged citizens first.

  15. bostongal912 says

    Feb 1, 2017 at 9:14 am

    Is there any place to go to send money to these Christian families? If anyone knows of any organization helping these people please let me know! Thanks a lot!

    • Lesley says

      Feb 1, 2017 at 10:41 am

      RescueChristians.org might be a way to help. Shoebat.com promotes their mission.

      Shoebat is kind of a nutter (but they do occasionally have interesting news from Arab world) so I would research RescueChristians.org first– that’s just the only organization I’ve heard of.

      You can also contact Mr. Spencer and ask him about how to directly help these families. Anything he recommends would be a sound organization, I’m sure 🙂

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