Persecution report of Gojra incident

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Sunday, August 2, 2009

Police First Information Report lodged against perpetrators of August 1 violence after intervention of Pakistan Federal Minister for Minorities
-- Pakistan President announces 500,000 Pakistani Rupees for families of each victim and 300,000 Pakistani Rupees for each of those whose houses have been destroyed.

By Dan Wooding and Sheraz Khurram Khan
Special to ASSIST News Service
GOJRA, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- A Police First Information Report (FIR) was lodged on August 2 (Sunday) against the perpetrators of an August 1 tragedy that resulted in killing of some 8 Pakistani Christians. The FIR was submitted after intervention by Pakistan Federal Minister for Minorities Mr. Shahbaz Bhatti who joined Christian protesters on Sunday while they were demanding that the FIR be lodged against the culprits by placing dead bodies on Railway tracks.

District Coordination Officer Toba Tek Singh, Imran Sikander and District Police Officer, Inkasar Khan were named in the Police FIR, along with 19 others and some 800 unidentified people.

Angry Christians had been demanding lodging of the FIR since August 1 but authorities were employing dilly-dallying tactics.

Federal Minister Shahbaz Bhatti made it clear to the local administration that he would not leave Gojra if the police report was not lodged against those responsible for August 1 violence.

The minister left Gojra after reading the FIR and later addressed a press conference in which he condemned recent incidents of violence against Pakistani Christians.

Talking to Christian protesters, Mr. Shahbaz Bhatti said that government would take notice of those who have incited the people to launch attack against Christians. He maintained that the culprits of August 1 violence would be arrested and they would be meted out punishment according to law.

“We will protect lives and properties of Pakistani Christians. We won’t allow anyone to damage dignity and honour of our Christian brethren”, vowed Mr. Bhatti.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari had asked Mr. Bhatti to go to Gojra to express solidarity with Christians and convey his message to them that the President equally shared Christians’ grief.

Mr. Bhatti said that President Asif Ali had directed the police to arrest culprits. He quoted Mr. Zardari as saying that he would ensure rehabilitation of affected Christians and would ensure that they get justice.

“ We will not allow anyone to practice religious extremism”, Mr. Bhatti quoted Mr. Zardari as saying.

Pakistan President announced 500,000 Pakistani Rupees for each of the families of victims and 300,000 Pakistani Rupees for those whose houses have been destroyed during August 1 violence.

Pakistani Christians of Gojra, a Tehsil (administrative division) of district Toba Tek Singh of Province Punjab buried some eight Christians late on Sunday night at 11:00 pm after lodging of the FIR.

Chief Minister Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif has announced 500,000 Pakistani rupees (US $6,038.65) for each of the families of the deceased of the August 1 tragedy. Angry Christians wanted the Chief Minister to visit them but he failed to turn up on August 2. According to unconfirmed reports, the Chief Minister is expected to visit affected Christians of Gojra on August 3 (Monday).

Condemning violence against Pakistani Christians on August 1, Sohail Johnson the Chief Coordinator of the Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan (SLMP) and Professor Anjum James Paul, Chairman of the All Pakistan Minorities Teachers' Association (APMTA) and Chief of Social Harmony and Development of Women (SHADOW) have demanded the government to arrest perpetrators of July 30 and August 1 violence against innocent Christians.

Mr. Johnson termed the August 1 attack on Christians of Gojra as "brutal". He said that Muslim mob numbering 1500 to 2000 set 50 Christians' houses on fire. Talking to ANS by phone Mr. Johnson said: “Religious militancy is on the rise. The menace of fanaticism which was earlier restricted to the hardline Islamist groups is now fast spreading among common Muslims, which is a worrisome trend for religious minorities including Pakistani Christians.
“The government of Pakistan should repeal blasphemy laws because their widespread abuse has rendered Pakistani minorities highly insecure. It was painful to witness dead bodies of innocent Christian women, children and men who lost their lives during August 1 tragedy".


Mr. Johnson termed blasphemy accusation on two Christians of Korian village as baseless, fallacious, concocted and fabricated. He said that the Christian community across Pakistan is in a grip of fear and uncertainty in the wake of August 1 tragedy. He disclosed that the Muslim mob attacked three Churches in Gojra. “The entire building of an independent Church in the area has been reduced to ashes. Another Church in the area has suffered extensive damage while the third Church has also sustained damage as a result of August 1 attack."

Depicting the general mood of Pakistani Christians as one of disappointment, anger and insecurity, Mr. Sohail said that the recent attacks on Pakistani Christians have only deepened the sense of deprivation among them. He quoted a Christian affectee of Gojra as saying that only Christian residents of Gojra can tell what is hell like as we have recently suffered one.

Mr. Johnson said the affected Christians were still without food and shelter. He said water is being supplied to the affected Christians through a water can "but this is not sufficient for people during relentless summer weather."

SLMP's field officer, Shahzad Kamran apprised ANS that the Christian residents of Gojra have been protesting against the brutal attack by beating their chests. “There is a wave of anger among the Christian residents". After being subjected to worst kind of attacks the Christian residents of Gojra have started demanding a separate province in the country, Shahzad Kamran told ANS.

Giving details on how the attacking Muslims orchestrated August 1 attack, Mr. Shahzad Kamran said that there were three militant groups among the angry Muslim mob. One group sprayed a volley of bullets on Christians. The other group entered the Christians' houses to plunder. The third militant group tossed a bottle or a bag in the air which was then shot by rifles by the group members to set ablaze houses. The chemical used to torch houses was so inflammable that it blew up roofs of houses, reducing most of them to ashes.

Mr. Kamran came down hard on partial coverage made by some media organizations. He said absence of substantial coverage by mainstream print and electronic media of the country has only honed sense of discrimination among Pakistani Christians. Criticizing police's apathetic attitude towards Pakistani Christians on August 1, he said they acted as silent spectators and let the mob play havoc with the lives and properties of the Christians.

" They could have fired aerial shots or used shelling to disperse the crowd. They rather let angry mob wreak violence on innocent Christian," said Shahzad Kamran.

Asked why the Chief Minister of Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif failed to visit the scene of incident until today (August 2), Mr. Kamran said the absence of the Chief Minister's appearance until now speaks of his apathy towards Pakistani Christians.

Talking to ANS by phone the Chairman of All Pakistan Minorities Teachers' Association (APMTA) said that the Christian residents of Gojra protested for some 32 hours. “ They blocked the road and placed dead bodies on railway tracks at one point during protest,” he said.

Mr. Anjum said that the Christian residents of Korian who had fled from their houses after some 500 strong Muslim mob set their houses on fire on July 30 have not returned to their homes yet.



Scenes of July 30 violence in Korian village











"The government should not play with the sentiments of Christians.

"On the one hand government wants Pakistani minorities to observe August 11 as "Minority Day" and on the other hand the Christians have been made refugees in their own country.

"How could one even think of this worst kind of violence against minorities even in the 21st century? We can lay down our lives for our country but we cannot allow extremists and militants to kills us".

Mr. Anjum asked if Christians had been given “An Independence Day Gift" in the shape of August 1 violence. He maintained that the Christians of Pakistan in the past have been forgiving of the perpetrators of the violence against them but "how long we would continue to forgive culprits", he argued.

He said the unscrupulous and provocative statements made by the hardline Muslim clerics from the mosques incited Muslims to launch attack against Christians. “They (Muslim clerics) called Christians 'dogs' and instigated the Muslims to kill them (Christians).




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