Photo via islamicity.com

Pakistani Muslims Fire on Christians in Land-Grab, Killing One

Muslims in Pakistan's Mian Channu area in southern Punjab Province shot dead an unarmed Christian and injured 21 others, six of them critically, during an attempted land-grab on Oct. 5, reports Jeremy Reynalds, Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service.

According to a story by Compass Direct News, residents of the area told the news service by phone that 40 to 45 heavily-armed Muslims on between 10 and 12 motorcycles, two tractor-trolleys and in a car reached Chak 134-16/L village in Khanewal district. They forcibly entered the home of Adeel Kashif, a Christian carpenter who was living on a government-owned piece of land.

“The attackers forced their way into Kashif's house and started throwing the family's belongings onto the street,” Wazir Masih, a Christian elder in the area, told Compass.

He added, “They also tore the clothes off Kashif's three female family members - Violet, 40, Parveen, 35, and Esther, 17, and tortured the family.”

Compass said Masih added that the Muslims wanted to take illegal possession of the 18-marla piece of land (in Pakistan, one marla equals 30.25 square yards), which the government makes available to laborers or craftsmen in exchange for the help they can offer to villagers.

A previous Muslim resident of the property had falsified a sale of the land to a local Muslim group, a fraudulent act as no one is permitted to sell government land in a personal capacity, Masih said.

Compass reported that Masih said the Muslims suddenly began firing indiscriminately on the Christians, killing 25-year-old Sajid Bashir Masih and seriously injuring 21 others, including women and children. Six of the injured were in critical condition, one of them Sajid Bashir Masih's younger brother, Haroon.

“The Christians had done nothing to provoke the Muslims into employing such brute force,” Compass reported Masih said. “They just opened fire on the defenseless people with their automatic rifles and shotguns.”

For more information about Compass Direct News go to www.compassdirect.org

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TAGS: Pakistan Mian Channu Punjab Province land-grab Compass Direct News Muslims attack Khanewal district

[10/19/2011]

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