Islamic Horde Attacks Christian Area of Pakistan
At least five Christians injured, two seriously, in Muslim aggression following dispute among youths.
ICC Note: Christian-owned shops and property were attacked in Francisabad Colony of Gujranwala city, Pakistan on Wednesday by a Muslim mob, Morning Star News reports. Like the attack that occurred less than a month ago in the Joseph Colony of Lahore when some 180 Christian homes were torched on March 9, an enraged mob took out its vengeance on an entire Christian community all because of a petty quarrel between a few Christians and Muslims. The incident once again proves that it is extremist ideology, not the government, which ultimately rules the streets of Pakistan. Moreover, witnesses indicate that the police again stood by while the violence escalated. Only hours before the attack, the Supreme Court condemned police for not intervening in the March 9 riots. Yet, to no one’s surprise, the court’s rebuke fell on deaf ears. There is a widespread belief in Pakistan, including within the police department and the government, that Christians and other religious minorities, including Shia Muslims, are second-class citizens and should be treated as such. Very little protection is offered if Muslims are the aggressors and Christians are the victims.
4/3/2013 Pakistan (Morning Star News) – Incited by calls from mosque loudspeakers after a dispute between Muslim and Christian youths, a Muslim mob attacked a Christian neighborhood in Gujranwala today, injuring at least five Christians and damaging a church and dozens of shops and vehicles.
Only a few hours after Pakistan’s Supreme Court rebuked Punjab Police for only observing arsonists and other assailants in Lahore’s Joseph Colony rioting last month, police allowed Muslims to attack Christians of Francis Colony in Gujranwala, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Lahore, sources said. Two of the injured Christians were seriously wounded.
A resident of Francis Colony, where 2,000 Christian families have settled in the overwhelmingly Muslim-majority country, said police bias was evident in today’s attack.
“The police was doing what it does best – nothing!” said Asif Barkat, who received minor injuries as he and other Christians tried to defend themselves. “Their bias towards Christians is quite evident, because when the Muslims were raiding our church and property, they just watched, but when we confronted them, they started hitting us with batons and used live ammunition to deter us.”
Area Christians said three Christian youths – identified only as Mehran, Timothius and Waqas – were heading to their homes on a motorized rickshaw along with four Muslim passengers on Tuesday night (April 2) when one of the Christian boys asked the driver to turn on radio.
“The boys told us that a Muslim passenger named Muhammad Mushtaq stopped them from playing music, saying it was forbidden in Islam, and that he should not show disrespect to the Muslim faith,” Pervaiz Masih, told Morning Star News by phone. “The boys entered into an argument with the Muslims, which later turned into a minor scuffle.”
Passersby intervened, and the Christian boys went to their homes, he said, but the Muslim youths called their friends and soon a mob gathered in Francis Colony. They began shouting derogatory slogans against Christianity, trying to provoke residents, who remained in their homes unaware of the prior altercation.
“When the Muslim youths left the area, a group of Christian elders went to the police post located in our colony and sought security from them,” Masih said. “The police told us that they would not let any person harm us and the matter would be resolved amicably. On this assurance we returned to our homes.”
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