A Christian mother of five was allegedly raped by two Muslim men last week, and area Islamists are threatening to harm her family if charges against the suspects are not dropped, the woman and her husband told Compass.

On Sept. 15, the 32-year-old woman said, she was returning home to Mustafabad, in Punjab Province’s Kasur district, from a garment factory where she works. Two Muslims, identified only as 23-year-old Bhallu and 27-year-old Shera, along with an unidentified accomplice, allegedly abducted her at gunpoint, took her to an abandoned house in the area and raped her, she said.

Working late, she had reached the Mustafabad bus stop at 11:45 p.m. and had begun walking to her home five minutes away; the street was deserted, said the alleged victim, whose name is withheld.

“As soon as I entered our street, Bhallu appeared from the shadows and put his hand on my mouth,” she told Compass by phone. “A second person, who I later recognized as Bhallu’s friend Shera, came from behind and put a pistol on my temple. A third person also appeared on the scene, and together they first gagged me and then forcibly took me to an abandoned house. I tried my best to get free from their hold and save myself, but they were too powerful for me.”

Once inside, she said, they took off her gag, and she pleaded with them to leave her alone.

“I tried screaming, but they hit me,” she said, sobbing. “Not for a minute did they acknowledge that I was a mother to five children. Then they raped me, one after the other. Their third accomplice stood guard as they tore in on me like animals.”

She said that her tormentors let her go after more than an hour.

“They had torn my clothes, and I could barely step outside the house,” she said. “I don’t know how I managed to reach my home … Words fail me even now.”

Muslim criminals in Pakistan, where the population is more than 95 percent Muslim according to Operation World, tend to assume they will not be prosecuted if their victims are Christians. The accuser said Muslim men in the area have been harassing Christian women for some time.

“There are around 500 Christian houses in this area, which is predominantly inhabited by Muslims,” she said. “There have been several instances when they have publicly harassed us but have gotten away with it, because we keep silent to avoid a clash.”

A month ago, as she was returning home from work, she was near her house when she suddenly felt someone pulling her head scarf, she said. She turned and found one of Bhallu’s friends holding the head scarf.

“I started screaming, and my husband and a neighbor rushed out, but the boy walked away as if nothing had happened,” she said. “We did not say a word about this to anyone out of shame and fear of the Muslims.”

She said that after that incident, her husband, who works as a sweeper, began accompanying her to and from the bus stop.

“But there were days when he could not accompany me to the bus stop, and I used to walk alone,” she said.

Her husband, Mushtaq Masih, said that he was speechless after she told him about the ordeal.

“We have five children – three boys and two girls – with the oldest daughter studying in sixth grade – I cannot express the thoughts that filled my mind at that time,” Masih said. “The Muslims had ruined us completely, and I did not know what would happen to us if we reported the crime, but seeing my wife devastated, I decided to face the rapists.”

He called police, who visited the crime scene and took the woman to the hospital for a medical examination that proved she had been gang-raped, he said. Police filed a First Information Report (FIR No. 491/11) against Bhallu and his accomplices.

The woman said that she knew Bhallu only because he lived in her neighborhood, and that although she recognized Shera, she did not know his name until the FIR was filed.

Masih said that Shera’s name came up during the initial police investigation, and he was in custody when the investigating officer asked Masih to bring his wife to the police station to identify the suspects. Bhallu had fled the area.

His wife said that as they reached the police station, Muslims warned the family against pointing out Shera.

“They told us that they will kill my children and husband if I identify Shera,” she said. “They said that we should not forget that we arechooras [sweepers, a derogatory word for Christians] and can bring no harm to them. They also warned that our daughters would face a similar fate if we did not listen to them.”

She refused to identify Shera and returned home, she said.

“What happened to me should not happen to any of them,” she said. “My children are my world, how could I put their lives in danger? … Please pray that no woman suffers what I have been through.”

Pressure to Drop Charges

Area Christians were shocked. The family continues to receive threats to withdraw the case against the primary suspect, Bhallu, who has been seen in the area several times though police have yet to arrest him, Masih said.

“Our Muslim neighbors are pressuring us to withdraw the case,” he said. “They want us to reach an agreement with Bhallu and his friends. They want us to ‘pardon’ the criminals who have dishonored us.”

Police are using delay tactics in the pursuit of Bhallu, Masih said.

“We told the Mustafabad police in-charge that the Muslims are forcing us to withdraw the case, but he is not bothered,” Masih said. He added that some policemen had also asked him to withdraw the case, saying there was little chance his wife would get justice.

“They asked me to take money in return for withdrawing the case,” Masih said. “They want that I should sell my wife’s honor for money.”

Investigating Officer Muhammad Sharif dismissed the Christians’ accusations that police had sought money in exchange for dropping the case, and he refused to acknowledge that Muslims were threatening the woman’s family and needed police protection.

Sharif told Compass that police were trying to arrest Bhallu.

“We took his father into custody but released him after interrogation,” he said. “I will soon catch hold of Bhallu.”

Sharif said the investigation would accelerate after the primary suspect is arrested.

As Masih and the few Christians daring to support him ponder their next step, the woman maintains a faint hope of getting justice in a country where Christians have little legal or societal standing. Mukhtar Masih, an elder of the area Presbyterian church, said the Christians were helpless as the Muslims held sway over local police.

“Several Christian women have complained that the Muslims have harassed them, but this is something that we have to live with every day,” he said, adding that even though the community was shocked, no one was coming forward to help the family because “they are afraid of the Muslims.”

Area resident Arif Masih told Compass that the Christians’ fears were understandable.

“We don’t have anyone who can face the police and the Muslims,” he said. “What happened to Masih’s wife is very tragic and can happen to any one of us, but is there really anything we can do about it?”

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The son of a slain governor in Pakistan — who was killed for opposing the country’s notorious blasphemy law — was kidnapped recently in an upscale neighborhood in Lahore.

Shahbaz Taseer, 28, was on his way to work when he was abducted. He is the son of the late governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, who was murdered on Jan. 4, by his own bodyguard.

Shahbaz was riding in his car in Gulberg, an upscale area in Lahore, when four gun-wielding men who were riding motorcycles intercepted his silver Mercedes car.

The gunmen forced Shahbaz out of his vehicle, then shoved him into a waiting SUV car which sped away. To date, there have been no ransom demands, and there are no firm suspects yet.

Although Shahbaz had government-assigned security, at the time of the abduction none of his guards were present. His father, the elder Taseer, was killed by his own bodyguard, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, who later told officials he did this because Taseer opposed the blasphemy law.

Qadri was hailed by some public sectors as a hero for his deed. Under the blasphemy law, it is a crime to insult prophet Muhammad, the Qur’an and the Islamic faith. Oftentimes the law has been used to settle personal scores.

Taseer made the bold gesture of visiting Asia Bibi, a Christian woman with four young children, who was handed the death sentence for the crime of blasphemy. Bibi’s case drew international attention to the infamous blasphemy law. (See http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2011/01/muslim-pakistani-governor-assassinated-for-slamming-blasphemy-law-14988/).

Shahbaz, who is primarily a businessman, is a director of a number of companies that were founded by his father, such as Media Times Ltd., First Capital Securities Corp. Ltd., Pace Pakistan Ltd., and First Capital Equities Ltd.

However, it was also Shahbaz who filed criminal charges against Qadri for the murder of his father.

Punjab’s law minister, Rana Sanaullah, suggested Islamic militants may be behind the kidnapping of Shahbaz. He told reporters, “This is a very distressing incident. Involvement of terrorist organizations in abduction incidents is getting grave across the country,” LA Times reported.

The incident has raised concerns that extremist elements may be targeting the Taseer family, some members of whom still continue to slam intolerance in Pakistani society.

Shehryar Taseer, brother of the kidnap victim, told Reuters, “Our family has been receiving threats from the Taliban and extremist groups.”

Second high profile kidnapping in one month

This is the second time within one month that a high-profile kidnapping occurred in Lahore. Two weeks before, on Aug. 13, American aid expert Warren Weinstein, 70, was abducted from his home by eight gunmen just before dawn.

Weinstein, who is country director of J.E. Austin Associates Inc., was involved in a project in the country’s northwestern tribal areas where Islamic insurgents have been fighting government troops for years.

The American victim had been working in Pakistan for seven years. He was kidnapped just two days before he was supposed to go back to the U.S. Last Thursday, police raided a home in Khushab town thinking he might be there, but the kidnappers had already fled with Weinstein before the police arrived.

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Christians living in the vicinity where Osama bin Laden was killed last May in Pakistan are experiencing stepped-up persecution after 10 years of having lived there peacefully.

The persecution began immediately after the U.S. assassinated bin Laden in the compound that he was hiding in for years in Abbottabad, a gateway city to a mountainous region in the north.

The founder of al-Qaeda, the Islamic terrorist organization which masterminded the 9/11 attacks in New York, successfully managed to hide in the compound located in a tourist summer resort city for years before U.S. forces swooped down and killed him last May 2.

Local people living in the area have complained that their situation worsened after bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad city, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in eastern Pakistan.

The compound where bin Laden hid is near the Pakistani Military Academy, that country’s version of West Point; and near a Pakistani military base. U.S. Special Forces raided the compound and killed the terrorist leader.

Although media were given access to the million dollar, three-story compound days after the assault on bin Laden, ever since the start of last month, access has been closed to media.

The most recent incident of Christian persecution occurred when members of a Protestant church held a film showing in a city park of a movie depicting the life of Jesus Christ.

The Full Gospel Assembly held the film showing of the 1979 epic movie about Jesus on Aug. 12, in a public park in Abbottabad. The Christians were beaten and the movie projector was smashed before the police stepped in.

There were no arrests made after the brutal incident, despite the public disturbance.

The Catholic Church has issued a warning to Christians in areas near Abbottabad that new attacks may occur, urging the people to be cautious with public expressions of faith.

The warnings stem from an incident one week before, which ruffled the sensibilities of some Muslims. At that time, a local Catholic priest was interrogated for looking at the compound where bin Laden had been killed.

“I took a foreign friend to the house of a Catholic living near the compound. We were taken away minutes after we climbed on his rooftop,” Father Akram Javed Gill, parish priest of the local St. Peter Canisius Church, said.

Reflecting on his interrogation experience, Gill said, “I learnt a lot from that experience. Christians cannot afford to get involved in risky situations, especially after the bin Laden episode.”

Immediate aftermath

In the immediate aftermath of the bin Laden death, Gill recalled that he was unable to conduct pastoral visits to homes amid heightened security. He also had to cancel a prayer service that had been scheduled, as well as other scheduled church feasts.

Policemen who were assigned to guard the church were on high alert. Incidents of persecution increased, including a police request that the church burn pamphlets about Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Church leaders came together to demand that security be boosted for faith groups after bin Laden’s death, despite 10 years of peaceful coexistence previously. Gill said, “There was not a single bombing here for about a decade of the war on terror. Now we know the reason.”

There are some 150 Catholics in Abbotabbad, and three Catholics in Bilal town, where bin Laden’s compound is.

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LAHORE, Pakistan, August 4 (Compass Direct News) – In a rare move in Pakistan, a lower court in Punjab Province on Tuesday (Aug. 2) released on bail a young Christian man accused of blaspheming Islam.

The Magisterial Court of Chichawatni, Sahiwal district, granted bail to Babar Masih, who suffers from a psychiatric disorder that causes him to shout in fits of rage for as long as an hour without knowing what he is doing or saying. In the face of Islamic extremist threats, generally lower courts in Pakistan do not dare grant bail or acquit a Christian accused of blasphemy, leaving such decisions for higher court judges who enjoy greater security measures.

The complainant in the case, Zeeshan Arshad, states in the First Information Report (FIR) that Masih was “addressing the stars and calling names of Muslim sages and holy personages” when he made the alleged remarks blaspheming Islam. The FIR itself states that Masih never intended to hurt Arshad’s religious feelings, and that no sane person would draw the ire of area residents by talking in this way.

On the day he made the alleged remarks (May 2), however, a large Muslim mob gathered that refused to hear that Masih was suffering any mental disorder. They demanded he be turned over to them so that they could kill him publicly. Chichawatni City police intervened and took Masih into custody.

At the Aug. 2 hearing, the courtroom was packed with bearded, hard-line Muslims and a tense calm prevailed, said Niaz Aamer, an attorney for the Center for Law and Justice-Pakistan (CLJ-P), which is representing Masih. Aamer said that the judge asked him to read the FIR, but the attorney requested that the judge read it himself, silently, due to the sensitive nature of the case. After arguments, the judge awarded bail.

Masih could not be released until the next day, however, because court orders arrived late to the police station. Sensing danger at the main entrance of the jail yesterday, staff members released him from a more inconspicuous “family gate.”

During his time in jail, Masih was attacked, Aamer said. On May 26, as Masih was brought to court in a police van, an officer asked in a loud voice, “Where is the blasphemy accused?” As soon as Masih was identified, a bearded man among the accused in the van repeatedly hit Masih’s face and head with his handcuffs before police intervened. The assailant was never brought to justice, Aamer said, though since that time Masih has been brought to court hearings in a separate van.

The judge granted bail even though a medical examiner declined to confirm Masih’s mental condition. Though Masih’s outbursts were witnessed several times while in jail, the Sahiwal Central Jail superintendent’s medical examination report states, “He is a young man of average health. He gives history of some psychiatric illness before coming to jail. Inside jail he is vitally stable and well-oriented. However, to know the exact situation regarding his mental condition, he may be examined by the District Standing Medical Board at DHQ Hospital Sahiwal.”

Masih’s family provided doctor’s prescriptions and medicine wrappers he used, but a police report presented in court on May 17 did not mention Masih’s medical treatment.

His brother, Amjad Masih, previously told Compass that he had learned from witnesses that the accused was walking by the Canal Mosque looking upward and calling out names as the mosque leader was coming out and allegedly heard him using abusive language about Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. Amjad Masih arrived home to find a large number of Muslim clerics gathered outside who told him Babar Masih had used insulting language about Muhammad, which can be punishable by death in Pakistan.

Immediately after Masih was arrested, all three Christian families living in the area fled, including those of Masih’s brothers, James Masih, and Amjad Masih. Since fleeing, James Masih’s son Robin James has had to drop his engineering studies, and his daughter Sana James was unable to finish college exams, Aamer said. James Masih is still looking for work, and his other two daughters, eighth-grade students Shanza James and Sahira James, have also been forced to abandon their studies.

Amjad Masih was allowed to return to his residence after long negotiations with area clerics and a promise that he would never legally support his brother or else he would face similar charges, Aamer said.

“After Masih’s release, Amjad Masih did not go home to meet with him or any of his family members, because it will be a danger for them,” Aamer said. “Amjad cannot stay in the area if ever seen with Babar Masih.”

The CLJ-P, an affiliate of European Center for Law and Justice, plans to file an application under Section 540-A of Pakistan’s Criminal Procedure Code to exempt Masih from court appearances on grounds that it would be too dangerous, Aamer said.

“Babar Masih, who is mentally ill, was accused of blasphemy on May 2, 2011 and is released on bail within three months, while there are hundreds languishing in jails for years on blasphemy charges,” Aamer said.

Christians make up only 2.45 percent of Pakistan’s population, which is more than 95 percent Muslim, according to Operation World.

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Muslim and Christian leaders came together recently to commemorate a tragedy in a small Christian neighborhood in Pakistan two years before, and to denounce the perpetrators, who have not been punished.

The leaders came together in an interfaith event that was held at the Sacred Heart Church in Gojra last Monday, to mark the second year anniversary of the August 2009 tragedy, where 10 people died, including a family of seven who were set on fire; and dozens of Christian homes were razed to the ground.

Two Muslim leaders apologized for the violence during the event. The Muslim Sufi leaders said they regretted the violence which is inconsistent with the “spirit of Islam,” Catholic News India reported.

In 2009, some 800 Muslims attacked Christian neighborhoods in Gojra in the Punjab region, setting buildings on fire and attacking people, leaving 10 dead. Although 70 suspects were arrested, all were acquitted.

Father Aftab James Paul, director of the diocesan commission for interfaith dialogue and ecumenism in Faisalabad told Catholic News India that the apologies of the Muslim Sufi leaders are “hugely significant.

Paul said, “Even though they weren’t in any way involved in what happened that day, the peer Sufis (Sufi masters) described Islam as a religion that does not condone killing and condemned the massacre,” Catholic News India reported.

Many of those in the interfaith conference, who were victims of the violence, were angry that no one was punished, and that all those who were arrested were set free by an anti-terrorism court in Faisalabad.

Victor Babu, whose family was murdered in the attack, recalled the event saying, “Threatening announcements from nearby mosques echoed in our houses. My wife and pregnant daughter rushed to the home of her in-laws when we heard her father-in-law was shot dead. Both were burned alive,” Catholic News India reported.

Another victim, Naveed Masih, was jailed for defending himself and his family. He spent over four months in jail, and lost his career as a former boxer. He now sells liquor for a living.

One of the speakers slammed Pakistan’s blasphemy law saying, “These innocents are not only Christian martyrs, but also of Pakistan. The blasphemy law has caused severe damages to the soft image of Pakistan in the comity of nations,” The Christian Telegraph reported.

From 1926 to 1985 only seven blasphemy cases were registered. However, after the late dictator Zia ul Haq promulgated the law, over 4,000 cases were registered to date.

In an interfaith mass, Rt. Rev. Bishop Joseph Coutts of the Diocese of Faisalabad said in his message, “The blood of the martyrs is seed of the church. The early Christians were persecuted by the Romans and Jews, (and) before conversion, Paul also persecuted Christians, but Christianity flourished very fast.”

At the same time, Coutts stressed the need for change, Christian Telegraph said. “There is injustice in society, and efforts must be made for a just and peaceful society in Pakistan.”

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The head of a Christian congress in Pakistan announced recently that he will send an appeal to the United Nations to allow refugee status for Pakistani Christians because they do not feel safe in their own country.

Dr. Nazir S. Bhatti, chief of Pakistan Christian Congress, said the PCC is demanding that the Pakistani government opens its borders so that Christians may flee to bordering countries such as Afghanistan, India and China.

“The Christians in Pakistan do not feel safe, and they want to flee for the safety of their lives. We are asking that they be given refugee status,” Bhatti told the Pakistan Christian Post.

Bhatti said this will continue to be necessary unless the blasphemy law is repealed. He also said the Federal Minority Ministry must be restored, and there should be an end to kidnapping and enforced conversion of Christian women to Islam so that they can be married to influential Muslims against their will.

Kidnapping, forced conversion

The number of kidnappings, forced conversion to Islam and gang rape of Christian women has doubled in the year 2010-2011.

An example is the incident of nursing student Farah Hatim, 24, a Catholic girl who was kidnapped last May 7, by Muslim Zeeshan Iliyas and his brothers, Gulfam and and Ulran.

Hatim, who lives in south Punjab where most incidents of Christian persecution occur, was forced to convert to Islam so that she could forcibly marry her abductor.

Hatim’s abductors threatened to kill her family if she failed to cooperate. When her family tried to file a report of her abduction before Superintendent Police Ashfaq Guijar and SHO city Nazir Shah, they were threatened and the police refused to file the case.

The case was only registered after some 400 Christians protested in front of the police office. As the Justice and Peace Commission brought the case to court, the police constantly threatened Hatim’s family.

The case was then raised to the Supreme Court. On July 20, for the first time, Hatim saw her family. When she was asked if she went with her Muslim abductor freely, she wept and said, “Of my own will,” to protect her family.

After the proceedings she was granted a few minutes to meet with her family. Her brother told Asia News, “I am shocked … she was threatened … Why us? Why do we have to deal with it? Just because we are Christians?”

The Committee for Justice and Peace told Asia News, “Farah has become a victim of the prostitution racket. Zeeshan Iiyas tried to push her into prostitution when she was still a student at Sheikh Zaid Medical College, Rahim Yar Khan, but she refused. Zeehan Iiyas then took revenge.”

Farah is also fearful because she became pregnant after she was raped and she fears that if she tries to return to her community she will be rejected and her family will be killed.

Sisters kidnapped

In a separate incident, two Christian siblings were kidnapped by a band hired by a wealthy Muslim, and forced to convert to Islam. One of them was then forced to marry the rich Muslim.

Rebecca Masih and her sister Saima Masih were abducted by businessman Muhammad Wassem last May 24 in Faisalabad district. Waseem then forced Saima to marry him. Extremist group leader Muhammad Zubair Qasim was present. His band, Sip-e-Sahaba, specializes in kidnapping and forced conversions.

According to the Justice and Peace Commission, “thousands of girls from minority communities are kidnapped and forced to marry Muslims. We are fighting against the cancer of abductions and forced marriages,” Asia News reported.

The Catholic church has also condemned such acts, as have human rights organizations. Hatim’s family is appealing for action, or laws against the practice of abduction, forced conversion and marriage.

However, such acts prevail largely because of the blasphemy law which is often abused as pretext for this, as well as destruction of Christian homes, arrest and murder of Christians including women and children.

Courts are not mediums for true justice for Christians. Even government officials are not spared, including Shahbaz Bhatti, Christian Federal Minister who was gunned down in Islamabad. The Federal Minority Ministry has also been dissolved.

Dr. Nazir S. Bhatti of the PCC said because equal rights for minorities is not possible in Pakistan, the alternative he seeks is refugee status for its Christians.

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The discrimination that Christians experience in Pakistan is vividly evident when one looks at the country’s street sweepers.

Most of the street sweepers, or 90 percent of them, are Christians. This is because government job advertisements for street sweepers specify non-Muslims–and oftentimes, advertise specifically for Christians.

Pakistan’s population is 95 percent Muslim, and Christians only comprise 2.45 percent of its total population.

Street sweepers have become newsworthy in Pakistan of  late, because one of them, Abbas Masih, 36, was killed by a flower shop worker because he did not work fast enough.

Within the same month, another street sweeper, Anayat Masih Sahotra, was arrested on trumped up charges of forgery and fraud, because he lobbied for the legal rights of 400 Christian workers withLahore’s Solid Waste Management Department.

Sahotra, who has been with SWMD for 24 years, approached SWMD Managing Director Wasim Ajmal Chaudhry on May 14 regarding Christian SWMD workers’ rights, demanding that they be hired as regular employees so that they could be afforded full benefits.

When Chaudhry rebuffed him, Sahotra warned that they would fight for their civil rights. Chaudhry said Christians were Chuhras, an offensive term of contempt in Pakistan society.

Sahotra told the Daily Times that Chaudhry said, “I know you low-born Christian Chuhras, and I know how to deal with you.” That same day, Sahotra was arrested on trumped up charges.

Although he was set free on bail, a few days later the police called him again. Sahotra told Barnabas Fund, “The police…want to arrest me on any other charge in order to mount pressure on me to withdraw my support to the Christian employees who are not being made regular despite having worked there for several years.”

Temporary workers for decades

A Christian SWMD worker is usually hired as a temp with an 88-day contract that can be renewed for decades. They have no benefits, no pensions, no days off, no holidays and no sick leave.

Their work day should begin at 6 a.m., but because the public prefers not to see them working when they are awake, the sweepers usually start working at 4 a.m., and continue to do so until 7 p.m., for a salary of $100/month.

They work under filthy conditions and are easily susceptible to skin problems, respiratory diseases, hepatitis B and tuberculosis. Their wage can barely keep a family going, much less pay for education for their children. Oftentimes, the children of street sweepers become street sweepers themselves.

“How can a Chuhra argue with me?”

The consequence of no benefits is especially telling in the case of Masih, the street sweeper who was murdered by Muhammad Imran, a flower shop worker, who was angry because Masih failed to immediately clear the sidewalk in front of the shop of flowers and dried leaves.

“How can a Chuhra argue with me? Imran said, according to witnesses interviewed by Daily Times. Imran then grabbed a knife and stabbed Masih in the heart.

One of the shop owners, Muhammad Shehzad, was not present during the incident but upon learning of it rushed to the scene and had Masih brought to the hospital, where he died.

A First Information Report of the incident was only filed by local police upon the demand of several Christian leaders. Masih had been an SWMD sweeper for 16 years, but as a temporary worker, his family could not seek financial assistance.

In a statement to Daily Times, SWMD claimed that it has always given due respect to Christian workers. It also said that Chaudhry, whom Sahotra said had called Christians Chuhra and who refused to give them benefits, is “tolerant” and “fair.”

Presently, the Barnabas Fund is providing food parcels to Masih’s widow Rukhsana and their three sons, Abe-Saloom, 14, Quyum Masih, 11, Arbab Masih, 7, and their only daughter Zereesh, 3.

Sources:

http://www.barnabasfund.org/UK/News/Latest-emergencies/Barnabas-helps-family-of-murdered-Christian-man-in-Pakistan.html

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011%5C07%5C12%5Cstory_12-7-2011_pg7_12

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011%5C07%5C15%5Cstory_15-7-2011_pg7_26

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Christians in Khushab, a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan, have been staging a hunger strike in front of the building of the district coordination office out of desperation for jobs.

They are on strike because although the Pakistani government approved the allotment of a five percent quota of all federal jobs for minorities, this has not been implemented by the local administration.

One of the strikers, Alice Masih told Barnabas Fund, “Nearly all the positions reserved for minorities in the job market here as well as in schools have already been filled and not by us…When I checked the records I found that all the quota had been filled by Muslim candidates.”

Neither have any Christians been given jobs in the police force, William Naz, a Khushab council member, told Barnabas Fund.

Christians also face discrimination in the rush for jobs at the local hospital.

Dr. Shaid Gill told Barnabas Fund that this may be because a number of patients have refused treatment from Christians.

Masih told Barnabas Fund, “It is not enough that we are marginalized socially but now they want to drive us into poverty by refusing us jobs allocated for us.”

Meeting with Prime Minister

A number of parliamentarians from minority groups met with Pakistan’s prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani recently to bring the matter to his attention, Akram Masih Gill, state minister for Interfaith Harmony and Minorities Affairs.

Gill told Barnabas Fund that the parliamentarians also asked the prime minister to implement the five percent quota in the judiciary and the military.

In turn, Gill told Barnabas Fund, the prime minister asked for a report to be made regarding the job discrimination issue and the status of the implementation of the quota.

Christians, who mostly live in poverty and usually attain only menial jobs, make up 2.5 percent of Pakistan’s population. Another 1.5 percent are Hindu and other minority faiths. Muslims comprise 96 percent of total population.

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