London: July 3, 2009. (PCP) The UK representative of CLAAS, an organisation that supports persecuted Christians in Pakistan, has come out to condemn the attack this week on a Christian village in Kasur district. According to a factfinding team sent by the Pakistan branch of CLAAS, the village of Bahmani was attacked by radical Muslims on Tuesday after a local Muslim cleric accused Christians of blaspheming against Islam’s holy prophet Muhammad and encouraged local Muslims to kill them. A mob of Muslims reportedly responded to the cleric’s call by going on the rampage in Bahmani, home to around 300 Christian families. There they demolished or burned down around 100 houses. Other houses were looted and vandalised. The attackers also assaulted many of the women and young girls in the village, with one girl – identified only as N – made to run through the village naked. Members of the CLAAS-PK team managed to save her from committing suicide as a result of the trauma and have transferred her and the other women victims to a safe place until peace returns to the village. Police and some government officials have visited the village in the wake of the attack but in spite of promises made to the director of CLAAS-PK to bring the perpetrators to justice, police have still not registered a case against the men identified by the Christian villagers as the attackers. The director of CLAAS in the UK, Nasir Saeed, has written a letter to the Pakistani government appealing for the registration of a case against the suspects and an official investigation into the attack. He has also demanded compensation for the victims and the reconstruction of their homes. Mr Saeed said it was imperative that the government take greater action to ensure the safety of Pakistan’s religious minorities. He urged the government to repeal the country’s draconian blasphemy laws which are frequently misused by Muslims to settle personal scores with Christians. Bahmani is not the first Christian village to be attacked. In 1997, thousands of Christian homes and several churches were burned down in the Christian village of Shanti Nagar. Hundreds were injured in the attack, while Christian girls were raped and abducted. There have never been any arrests in connection with the attack. More recently, Muslims opened fire on the Christian settlement in Teaser Town, Karachi, killing an 11-year-old boy, Irfan, and injuring several others. Some of the men were beaten, houses were set on fire, and Bibles were desecrated. Mr Saeed commented: “It is a very sad and distressing situation as Christians in Pakistan are under attack; they don’t feel secure in their own country simply because they are Christians. The government’s reaction is also very disappointing. We have made it aware of these incidents and yet it has failed to take the appropriate action. It is the government’s duty to protect its citizens and now is the time to pass legislation that will stop the misuse of the blasphemy law and prevent any further attacks on Christians.”