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Victims of June 30 Muslim violence still receive threats

The Muslim anger over a blasphemy accusation against Christians has not apparently subsided, as Christian villagers from Bhamniwala, which is located in the district of Kasur in Punjab province, Pakistan, continue to face threats from radical Islamists, reports Dan Wooding and Sheraz Khurram Khan, special to ASSIST News Service.

The local Christians were attacked by 500 outraged members of a Muslim mob on Tuesday, June 30, 2009, over a blasphemy accusation against them.

Some estimates from the scene say that about 100 Christian houses and churches were set on fire by the attackers.

As summer temperatures have soared to 50 degrees Centigrade (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in some parts of Pakistan, the Christians whose houses were burned down by the Muslim mob are in desperate need of shelter.

Apart from manhandling the local Christians, torching their houses by using petrol and acid, the frenzied Muslims also damaged electric meters and severed water supply to the homes of the Christians.

ANS has discovered that the Muslim shopkeepers have also stopped selling goods to the local Christians.

Sohail Johnson, Chief Coordinator of the Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan told ANS that the local Christians had lost their belongings.

“They are in immediate need of financial assistance,” he said. “Their primary need is shelter and protection. They do not even have pots and pans to cook or plates to eat.”

Terming the Bhamniwala violence as “an horrendous injustice” against the Christians, he stated that this fresh incident of violence against minorities has once again proved that the government has “failed to protect Christians from religious fanatics.”

Haroon Masih, 22 a victim of the June 30 violence told the ministry that a mob comprising Muslims from Bhamniwala village as well as adjoining areas attacked them.

“They were armed with weapons with some of them wielding clubs,” he said. “They attacked our houses and set them on fire. The mob also set our carts, motorbikes, tractors and other goods on fire. We heavily rely on these goods for eking out a living.”

He went on to allege, “They tortured our men and women. The Police were present but they acted as silent spectators.”

Hanifan Bibi, 45 told the ministry that her house had been destroyed in the wake of the June 30 violence.

She went on to say, “They looted the jewelry of my daughter. We were saving money to arrange my daughter’s marriage, but this Muslim mob looted everything we had saved for her. Now, we have become homeless and penniless. We are left with nothing.”

A Christian girl, who did not wish to be named, told the ministry that the “crazy mob” pulled her out of her bathroom and “mistreated her.”

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TAGS: Pakistan Muslim violence anti-Christian attacks persecution radical Islamists Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan

[07/05/2009]

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