ICC Note:
Two sisters are on the run after their secret conversions to Christianity from Islam became known by local villagers, the Express Tribune reports.
By Rana Tanveer
4/25/2012 Pakistan (Express Tribune) – A domestic altercation one afternoon and a subsequent revelation about faith conversion changed the lives of Christian couple Amin Masih and Shehnaz. While the couple decided to stick with each other, they were shunned by their hometown and the kindness once shown by their Muslim neighbours soon turned into disapproval and threats.
Amin Masih married Shehnaz, while his younger brother Qaisar Masih married Shehnaz’s sister Gulnaz after the sisters converted to Christianity from Islam. The wives’ conversion was kept secret throughout the two-and-a-half years they lived in seemingly tolerant Narang Mandi of Sheikhupura district, where they were treated with respect by the Muslim locals.
The couples are now on the run after the locals demanded custody of Shehnaz and Gulnaz.
“We were living happy lives with our children but since it was disclosed that our wives were from a Muslim family, local Muslims, who were very kind to us before this incident, are hell-bent upon taking custody of them,” said Amin.
On March 31, Amin said his wife ran into the streets after an argument with him and started shouting: “I was a Muslim, Christians are torturing me, please help me.”
Although the neighbours looked on as silent spectators, the whispers soon started.
The next day, local leader Sardar Hashim Ali Mann, who contested in the previous election on the ticket of the Pakistan Peoples Party, summoned Amin and his family at his Dera.
Amin recalled that Mann questioned his marriage, to which he replied that his wife embraced Christianity, after which they married of their own free will.
This, however, offended Mann and he warned Amin to leave his wife and also ask his brother to do the same as the women were Muslims and it was inappropriate for them to live together.
Amin said that they immediately left their house taking with them only the bare essentials. He added that he also had to leave his job as a sweeper in a Lesco office in Narang Mandi.
…
