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In Pakistan, a rare Christian retaliation against Muslim violence
Earlier this month, residents of a Christian neighborhood in Gujranwala did something unprecedented when their settlement was attacked by Muslims: They fought back.
As violence against religious minorities in Pakistan continues to grow unabated, at least one group of Christians has decided it is finally time to fight back.
Earlier this month, in what observers and locals characterize as a very rare occurrence, Christians in the Francisabad neighborhood of Gujranwala stood their ground when a group of Muslims from nearby settlements began attacking their property.
Mobs have stormed through Christian settlements in the central Punjab province with increasing frequency in the last few years, fueled by extremist right-wing sentiment and often using the pretext of blasphemy allegations to justify their actions. In March, for instance, a mob attacked the Christian Badami Bagh area of Lahore after a personal dispute between a Christian and a Muslim mired in blasphemy allegations.
But the clash that erupted in Francisabad was unique in that the Christian community fought back. And while the incident isn't likely to spark a wider campaign of retaliation by Christian groups, it serves as a cautionary tale for Pakistan as its sectarian rift continues to widen.
'Draw the shutters and hide'
Developed in the early 1990s, the settlement of Francisabad is located on the outskirts of Gujranwala and is now home to some 3,500 Christian families, of which 1,800 are Catholic.
The violence there earlier this month was sparked, as is routine in Pakistan, by a personal dispute. According to witnesses, a number of young men were traveling to Francisabad in a large shared rickshaw called a qingqi, listening to music played from the vehicle's speakers. En route, they were joined by two clerics from a nearby colony who were reportedly offended that the men were listening to music.
The boys said they wouldnt turn the music off, says Father Ashraf Gill, the priest at the local Catholic church.
The clerics asked the boys their religion, says a local man named Arif, whose brother Mehran was in the rickshaw. My brother and two of the other boys said that they were Christians. Then the clerics slapped them around and beat up the rickshaw driver as well. My brother came home and told us what happened.
The same evening, some men from the nearby settlement of Naroke came to Francisabad to talk to Christian leaders about the incident. According to a resident, Emanuel, they were turned back and told that the matter would be discussed in the morning.
The next day, the Christian and Muslim elders scheduled to meet at a police checkpoint in the area. But the Muslim leaders, locals say, arrived two hours before the proposed time, and asked the police to register a blasphemy case against the Christian boys, accusing them of disrespecting the Quran.
The police, Father Gill says, refused to register the case, because they said there was no proof of the incident.
But that wasnt the end of it. A few hours later, Tanzeela Rani a mother of eight children was shopping for groceries when she witnessed a new disturbance.
I saw a mob of several hundred people, accompanied by a police van, storming into the main lane and destroying shops owned by Christians on the way, she says. They had arms with them. I said to the shopkeeper, Son, draw the shutters and hide.
She had that knee-jerk reaction, she says, because of what she had heard about the Badami Bagh attack in Lahore this March, where an entire settlement of Christians in the city was burned by a mob similarly fueled by a false blasphemy allegation touched off by a personal argument.
One of the mob members tore off my dupatta [a long scarf worn by women], and a police officer tried to hit me, Ms. Rani says. I told him that he wouldnt be able to touch me. There was a whole crowd of women from the colony and we were ready to defend and save our Francisabad. I managed to rip off the belt and shirt of a police officer and we overturned a trailer that the mob had used.
Rani says she felt no fear at having to defend Francisabad. God helped us, and we were able to battle spiritedly.
Link of the complete article -
In Pakistan, a rare Christian retaliation against Muslim violence - CSMonitor.com
Earlier this month, residents of a Christian neighborhood in Gujranwala did something unprecedented when their settlement was attacked by Muslims: They fought back.
As violence against religious minorities in Pakistan continues to grow unabated, at least one group of Christians has decided it is finally time to fight back.
Earlier this month, in what observers and locals characterize as a very rare occurrence, Christians in the Francisabad neighborhood of Gujranwala stood their ground when a group of Muslims from nearby settlements began attacking their property.
Mobs have stormed through Christian settlements in the central Punjab province with increasing frequency in the last few years, fueled by extremist right-wing sentiment and often using the pretext of blasphemy allegations to justify their actions. In March, for instance, a mob attacked the Christian Badami Bagh area of Lahore after a personal dispute between a Christian and a Muslim mired in blasphemy allegations.
But the clash that erupted in Francisabad was unique in that the Christian community fought back. And while the incident isn't likely to spark a wider campaign of retaliation by Christian groups, it serves as a cautionary tale for Pakistan as its sectarian rift continues to widen.
'Draw the shutters and hide'
Developed in the early 1990s, the settlement of Francisabad is located on the outskirts of Gujranwala and is now home to some 3,500 Christian families, of which 1,800 are Catholic.
The violence there earlier this month was sparked, as is routine in Pakistan, by a personal dispute. According to witnesses, a number of young men were traveling to Francisabad in a large shared rickshaw called a qingqi, listening to music played from the vehicle's speakers. En route, they were joined by two clerics from a nearby colony who were reportedly offended that the men were listening to music.
The boys said they wouldnt turn the music off, says Father Ashraf Gill, the priest at the local Catholic church.
The clerics asked the boys their religion, says a local man named Arif, whose brother Mehran was in the rickshaw. My brother and two of the other boys said that they were Christians. Then the clerics slapped them around and beat up the rickshaw driver as well. My brother came home and told us what happened.
The same evening, some men from the nearby settlement of Naroke came to Francisabad to talk to Christian leaders about the incident. According to a resident, Emanuel, they were turned back and told that the matter would be discussed in the morning.
The next day, the Christian and Muslim elders scheduled to meet at a police checkpoint in the area. But the Muslim leaders, locals say, arrived two hours before the proposed time, and asked the police to register a blasphemy case against the Christian boys, accusing them of disrespecting the Quran.
The police, Father Gill says, refused to register the case, because they said there was no proof of the incident.
But that wasnt the end of it. A few hours later, Tanzeela Rani a mother of eight children was shopping for groceries when she witnessed a new disturbance.
I saw a mob of several hundred people, accompanied by a police van, storming into the main lane and destroying shops owned by Christians on the way, she says. They had arms with them. I said to the shopkeeper, Son, draw the shutters and hide.
She had that knee-jerk reaction, she says, because of what she had heard about the Badami Bagh attack in Lahore this March, where an entire settlement of Christians in the city was burned by a mob similarly fueled by a false blasphemy allegation touched off by a personal argument.
One of the mob members tore off my dupatta [a long scarf worn by women], and a police officer tried to hit me, Ms. Rani says. I told him that he wouldnt be able to touch me. There was a whole crowd of women from the colony and we were ready to defend and save our Francisabad. I managed to rip off the belt and shirt of a police officer and we overturned a trailer that the mob had used.
Rani says she felt no fear at having to defend Francisabad. God helped us, and we were able to battle spiritedly.
Link of the complete article -
In Pakistan, a rare Christian retaliation against Muslim violence - CSMonitor.com
