Alleged blasphemy: Mob burns 100 Christian homes in Lahore

[Bratva]

Mariam Bibi stands in her doorway peering inside. She cannot step inside because the ashes are still white and burning, and acrid, black smoke fumes out angrily.

“We saved every penny to collect for my daughter’s dowry,” she sobs. “In one night they have left us homeless and out on the streets. Where will we sleep now?”

A teenaged boy says the mob comprising hundreds were ruthless. “It was all preplanned. They had planned this attack on us from Wednesday thanks to a brawl between Saawan, and Imran. But they targeted us three days later, and pretended it was about blasphemy. They even threw our goats into the fire alive. They burnt our motorcycles. They stole whatever they could.”

“For the families their assets were their children,” says Gulnar Gill, executive director of Canadian Human Rights International Organization. “They simply fled for safety when the police told them to otherwise maybe lives would have been at stake too.”

An old man crying over the pages of a burnt Bible, murmurs through tears: Our Gods are not different….we were always brothers…why do they do this to us?”

Joseph Francis from CLAAS (Centre for Legal Aid Assistance based in UK) says that the whole issue is a farce. There was never any religion involved.

“If the truth is really understood this was just a trivial drunken fight,” he says. Despite this we handed over Saawan to the police but they still did this.”

Francis says if the mob was so angry about a blasphemy accused, how was it that they waited three whole days?

But James Rehmat, a Christian worker, openly accuses the PML-N government of actually patronising the mob. “Some top leaders of the N-League, including Malik Riaz (local MNA) led the procession. On Friday night, another local PML-N leader came and had banners put up against blasphemy,” he points upwards to freshly put up cloth banners saying ‘The penalty of blasphemy is only beheading’.

“But we don’t see any politicians or other higher ups in this area after this incident although a whole day has passed by. How is it that all these incidents against us happened during the Shahbaz-Nawaz government?”

This relays a reaction to the angry victims and they suddenly break out chanting slogans against the government, women beating their chests in anguish.

Bishop Akram Gill, of the Emmanuel Church also stands and makes an official complaint against the Sharif-led Punjab government. “The Shantinagar and Gojra incidents too happened during the Sharifs’ rule. How is it that when they are not in power, we tend to live more peacefully? The time has come that Christians must ask themselves:
Can we live in Pakistan any longer? We request the UNO to give us refuge because we cannot find any justice in this country.”

Though Akram Gill thanks the police for controlling the situation, Sohail Johnson from the Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan has to stop himself from swearing at the police authorities. “They are lying!” he shouts. “They have done nothing to save us. They stood on one side while our Bible was burnt. Their excuse was there were too many terrorist outfits present and that the police was weak.”

Meanwhile many are of the opinion that the whole scenario was a game plan by the nearby iron factory owners who they believe are patronised by a powerful ruling family member. The attackers, they say, were factory workers, and the agenda was to grab the land the Christians had their houses on. And when Saawan had already been arrested why was their need of violence?

Cries for a lost home(land) | Newspaper | DAWN.COM

 

[KRAIT]

non-Muslim should get different peace of land from Pakistan , this population is not going to survive much in Pakistan...........NATO , UN should carve out new country from Pakistan for Christens,Hindus,Sikh,Buddhist,Ahmadiyah for non-Muslims......

Bad solution. Last time a nation was created in name of religion, it turned out bad, death and destruction of millions. Enough of nations based on religion.

 

[notsuperstitious]

Don't Muslims commit blasphemy in the christian eye when they say Jesus was not son of God? Then why are they so touchy when someone else state their religious beliefs?

 

[bigzgvr4]

Don't Muslims commit blasphemy in the christian eye when they say Jesus was not son of God? Then why are they so touchy when someone else state their religious beliefs?

show me in bible where it says that Iam jesus and iam Son of God Please show us i have looked and have not found any yet may be you have

"thank you come again"

 

[notsuperstitious]

show me in bible where it says that Iam jesus and iam Son of God Please show us i have looked and have not found any yet may be you have

"thank you come again"

Show me in Quran where it says Christians should only follow bible? Belief is everyone's choice.

''Keep the change cabby ''

 

[bigzgvr4]

Show me in Quran where it says Christians should only follow bible? Belief is everyone's choice.

''Keep the change cabby ''

dude you cannot answer a question with a question and in ISlam we are not forcing people to convert and the ones that force pople to do that should be tried in a criminal court and can you answer my question please

"thank you come again"

 

[Hyperion]

Who done what.... what what what what what....How could they have controlled where they were born, and what should they have known?

Does your eminence know that they are PAKISTANI citizens? Does your eminence know that the have EQUAL rights? Does your eminence know that you are not talking about Wahabistan, it's Pakistan, still!

Oh khudda kay banday.... what's up with your mindset? You know what I mean. I don't have words to eloquently convey the astonishment and resentment that I have, for what you are, and what you represent.

I swear on the Almighty, I haven't come across more bigoted person than your kind self, ever! You make me sick to the very core of my being, a part that I don't want to know exists....


@muse @Irfan Baloch : Is this guy for real?

Agreed.
But at the same time minorities should stop provoking muslims by Insulting our religious icons.
Them being born in Pakistan and being Pakistanis should have known that.

 

[JonAsad]

Bad solution. Last time a nation was created in name of religion, it turned out bad, death and destruction of millions. Enough of nations based on religion.

Just in case to let you know the nations created in the name of ideologies results in more death and destruction-

 

[muse]

My basic premise is that the root cause for this terrorism is the same one that causes ethnic gang violence in Karachi, Balochistan and elsewhere. The core problem is that the ruling elite who are supposed to enforce the law are the exact people who are supporting these criminal outfits in the first place. It doesn't matter which foreign influence is the culprit of the day; tomorrow, if we remove it, these elite will find some other issue (ethnicity, language, etc.) to divide the people and maintain their stranglehold.

That is our quandary.

So Wahabi Islam as a political force in Pakistan was a mistake??

 

[Karachiite]

Christians, Hindus and every other religious minority need to be given refuge in tolerant secular countries. Let these violent barbaric Muslims eat each other up in Pakistan.

 

[laiqs@mi]

oye dhakan india main jo hota hai woh nazar nahi aata???
burma main jo hota hai woh nazar nahi aata??
china main jo hota hai woh nazar nahi aata ???
chechnya palastine, ........... yahan to sirf ghar jaly hain(which is also very bed) but wahan to Muslims ka genocide kia gaya us k bary main to kabhi kuch nahi kaha tum logon nay

 

[A1Kaid]

What was the police in Lahore doing? Did they not see the smoke rise? Also any photos of this incident?

 

[illusion8]

Mariam Bibi stands in her doorway peering inside. She cannot step inside because the ashes are still white and burning, and acrid, black smoke fumes out angrily.

“We saved every penny to collect for my daughter’s dowry,” she sobs. “In one night they have left us homeless and out on the streets. Where will we sleep now?”

A teenaged boy says the mob comprising hundreds were ruthless. “It was all preplanned. They had planned this attack on us from Wednesday thanks to a brawl between Saawan, and Imran. But they targeted us three days later, and pretended it was about blasphemy. They even threw our goats into the fire alive. They burnt our motorcycles. They stole whatever they could.”

“For the families their assets were their children,” says Gulnar Gill, executive director of Canadian Human Rights International Organization. “They simply fled for safety when the police told them to otherwise maybe lives would have been at stake too.”

An old man crying over the pages of a burnt Bible, murmurs through tears: Our Gods are not different….we were always brothers…why do they do this to us?”

Joseph Francis from CLAAS (Centre for Legal Aid Assistance based in UK) says that the whole issue is a farce. There was never any religion involved.

“If the truth is really understood this was just a trivial drunken fight,” he says. Despite this we handed over Saawan to the police but they still did this.”

Francis says if the mob was so angry about a blasphemy accused, how was it that they waited three whole days?

But James Rehmat, a Christian worker, openly accuses the PML-N government of actually patronising the mob. “Some top leaders of the N-League, including Malik Riaz (local MNA) led the procession. On Friday night, another local PML-N leader came and had banners put up against blasphemy,” he points upwards to freshly put up cloth banners saying ‘The penalty of blasphemy is only beheading’.

“But we don’t see any politicians or other higher ups in this area after this incident although a whole day has passed by. How is it that all these incidents against us happened during the Shahbaz-Nawaz government?”

This relays a reaction to the angry victims and they suddenly break out chanting slogans against the government, women beating their chests in anguish.

Bishop Akram Gill, of the Emmanuel Church also stands and makes an official complaint against the Sharif-led Punjab government. “The Shantinagar and Gojra incidents too happened during the Sharifs’ rule. How is it that when they are not in power, we tend to live more peacefully? The time has come that Christians must ask themselves:
Can we live in Pakistan any longer? We request the UNO to give us refuge because we cannot find any justice in this country.”

Though Akram Gill thanks the police for controlling the situation, Sohail Johnson from the Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan has to stop himself from swearing at the police authorities. “They are lying!” he shouts. “They have done nothing to save us. They stood on one side while our Bible was burnt. Their excuse was there were too many terrorist outfits present and that the police was weak.”

Meanwhile many are of the opinion that the whole scenario was a game plan by the nearby iron factory owners who they believe are patronised by a powerful ruling family member. The attackers, they say, were factory workers, and the agenda was to grab the land the Christians had their houses on. And when Saawan had already been arrested why was their need of violence?

Cries for a lost home(land) | Newspaper | DAWN.COM

Looks like the Christians are stating a lot of different angles like politicians, religious leaders, hate, drunken fight, police etc and many are contradicting each other - they probably might be traumatized by the incident to think straight.

 

[laiqs@mi]

Originally Posted by Safriz
Agreed.
But at the same time minorities should stop provoking muslims by Insulting our religious icons.
Them being born in Pakistan and being Pakistanis should have known that.


Agree

 

[Cloakedvessel]

The moment one hears something ''insulting'' and one reacts with anger and bloodshot eyes, its 1) conditioning since childhood. 2) mob mentality and 3) lack of critical thinking education.

Religion fundamentally and officially promotes this by 1) obligatory training since childhood, 2) by organizing in mobs and 3) by terming critical thinking ''blasphemy'' and forcing to believe ancient books as ''gods'' word.

Hence all the apologists saying this is not linked to religion are offering really lame excuses without understanding how these things are an outcome even if not a direct prescription. But then these apologists are victims of all of the above too.

Good post, you have nicely summed up in a nutshell why organized religion is detrimental to society, and why this problem of violent outbursts will continue, unless changes occur that fundamentally alter the way how people think. Through a reformation that encompasses and implores educational, political, and psychological transformations. Just saying 'Islam is a religion of peace' is a mockery these days.

Don't Muslims commit blasphemy in the christian eye when they say Jesus was not son of God? Then why are they so touchy when someone else state their religious beliefs?

Your question has substance. But only if the other side is willing to employ logical reasoning. Looking at the pictures with those enraged and violent rioters, do you honestly think that they will listen to reason? No, they are completely brainwashed, devoid of any rational thinking, who can be charged up, with emotional ranting and demagogue, to attack anyone who 'insults' Islam.
The mere presence of non-Muslims in their midst is blasphemous to them. How can you reason with such people, who will slit your throat without the slightest provocation?

Coming back to your question. What you say is correct. It is impossible to protect the religious sentiments of the Muslim on one side and the Christian one on the other side, while still insisting that people may not criticize either beliefs.
For example, the very distinctive position that Muhammad takes in Islam is itself a direct contravention of the religious beliefs of billions of others, just like Jesus being the Son of God in Christianity is an affront to millions of Muslims. There is thus no way of protecting religion from blasphemy without actually banning the very expression of religious beliefs themselves.