Hi, Nazir, I have been learning a great deal about Pakistan through your website in recent days. Please find below outcome of my research on the subject. I hope it will be of interest to the readers of your website. Thanks, Kevin A Report on Pakistan by Voice of Martyrs Canada Pakistan was formed in 1947 as the Muslim section in the partition of British India. In 1971, as a result of a civil war, East Pakistan left Pakistan to form the state of Bangladesh. For more than half its history, Pakistan has been ruled by the military, deposing elected governments at will. Christians face severe opposition from militant Islamic groups. They are regularly barred from jobs or face troubles from their employers and co-workers. Christian merchants are often harassed. The war in Afghanistan intensified problems, with Pakistani Christians seen as being a part of an attack on Islam. In 1998, Sharia law was adopted in Pakistan, under which Christians have limited rights. Many Pakistani Christians have been falsely accused under Law 295c of blaspheming Mohammed or the Koran, a crime punishable by death. Even if acquitted, those accused often face threats, violence and even death at the hands of mobs following their acquittal. Proposed amendments intended to stem some of the abuses of the law have had little effect. The North West Frontier Province has passed a bill that has been described by critics as the "Talibanization" of Pakistan. The law sets up a watchdog with the power to reform the society in accordance to "Islamic values," which includes ensuring that such values are observed in public places. The law is strongly opposed by the federal government. Christians are praying that this law will not be implemented, and that they can move toward more religious freedoms. Imprisonment, torture and death continue to dog the path of Christians in Pakistan. In August 2004, 26 year old Nasir Masih was arrested on false charges of theft and subsequently beaten to death while in police custody. Christians who gathered to protest were disbanded by police who proceeded to arrest seventeen of the demonstrators. In March 2005, a group of women who had gathered for prayer and fasting in Miskeen Musharaf Colony in Islamabad were attacked by Muslims from a nearby mosque. The Imam reportedly led the attack along with his students. The Pakistani news agency, Dawn, reported that the Imam objected to the construction of the church. Before building, the local Christians had interviewed the seventy-five households in the neighborhood and heard no objections. Just a few days later, in the village of Khambay near Lahore, the Victory Church International was attacked during their Easter services. Six men were injured during the attack, one critically, and another was killed. This, too, was motivated by individuals in the area who opposed the presence of the church, even though it had been on that property for more than a century. A neigbouring Muslim family apparently wanted the land on which the church and cemetery are. In all of this, Pakistani believers continue to remain faithful, even while risking their safety and property for the sake of Christ. Prayer Requests • Pray that those in prison for their faith will know the presence of God and will grow in their faith. • Pray that Christians in Pakistan will have a bold testimony to those around them. • Pray for protection for Christians facing intimidation and threats from those around them ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com Sunday, January 6, 2008 Pakistani Taleban kidnap five Christians Swapping release for five detained militants demanded By Sheraz Khurram Khan Special Correspondent for ASSIST News Service in Pakistan PESHAWAR/TANK, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Suspected militants associated with Commander Baitullah Mahsud on Friday kidnapped five Christians in South Waziristan Agency (SWA), Pakistan’s English Daily “The News” has reported. Also, militants blocked the main Wana-Jandola Road where they stopped all passing vehicles to look for the security personnel and government employees, it said. The story quoted unnamed sources as telling “The News” by telephone from the troubled region that the armed militants stopped a vehicle, which was carrying passengers from Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan, to Dera Ismail Khan. Among the passengers, five were Christians, whom the militants took into custody and drove them later towards an undisclosed location, said the story. Three abductees, according to the story were identified as Altaf Masih, Babar Masih and Emanuel, while the names of two other Christians could not be ascertained. The identified captives it said belonged to Pakistani city of Gujranwala and were employed in Wana. The two other Christians were their relatives, who had come from Gujranwala to see them in Wana, which is considered a place of terror among the people living in rest of the country, it said. The story said the hosts and their guests were returning to their hometown when captured by the suspected tribal militants. Local officials of the political administration confirmed the kidnapping and said no effort could be made for their release as the area where they were disembarked from a vehicle was a stronghold of Mahsud tribal militants, it added. "[We traveled] even [though] we had been directed by the high-ups to avoid traveling in the area inhabited by the Mahsud tribesmen," it quoted a senior official of the political administration as saying. On the other hand, militants affiliated with Baitullah Mahsud made the release of Christians conditional with the freeing of six prominent militants now in custody of law-enforcement agencies, it maintained. The story went on to say that one of them, identified as Commander Raees Khan Mahsud, was arrested by the law-enforcement agencies at a check post near canal in Dera Ismail Khan while coming to DI Khan from South Waziristan. The other five were said to be very important militant commanders of Baitullah Mahsud group picked up earlier from various areas of the tribal region. Pakistani pastor murdered in North West Frontier Province: part of a pattern of anti-Christian threats and violence: A Report by Barnabas Fund - 29th January 2008 Threatened by murder, kidnapping and intimidation, Christians are coming under pressure both from lawlessness and from Islamic radicalism in Pakistan`s North West Frontier Province which borders Afghanistan. Most recently, on January 17th a church minister, Sajid William, was shot dead in Peshawar, the capital city of the province. Over recent years the North West Frontier Province has steadily become a hotbed of Islamic radicalism. The strength of Islamic radicalism throughout Pakistan was recently indicated by the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. As well as the murder of Sajid William, there have been many recent attacks on the North West Frontier Province`s Christians. There have been several cases in recent months of Christians being kidnapped in the province, often by militants or criminals linked to Taliban, who demand ransoms or the release of militants held in Pakistani jails. Christian schools have suffered bomb attacks for failing to adhere to Islamic values. The continuing persecution of Christians in the province was shown by the series of threats made against Christians in 2007 to convert to Islam or be killed. [link to earlier reports] The North West Frontier Province is home to a tiny Christian minority comprising just 0.25% of the province`s population. (This compares with a Christian population of around 2.5% in Pakistan as a whole.) The increasing power of the Taliban in the region and the failure of central government to control the area have meant that Christians are becoming exposed to increasing danger. In 2003 provincial legislators unanimously passed a bill giving shari`a (Islamic law) precedence over secular provincial law. Militants have also enforced an unofficial parallel justice system based on extreme versions of shari`a. This has placed great pressure on minorities. Christians blamed for acts of radical criminal gangs The situation for Christians is increasingly difficult throughout all of Pakistan. A Barnabas contact in the Punjab region, which borders India, recently explained that in one village criminal gangs, linked to the Islamist radical group Lashkar-i-Taiba, have been trying to pass the blame for their crimes on to Christians. The police have colluded with the criminals in blaming the Christians for crimes they did not commit. Christians, therefore, feel very vulnerable as the authorities are not willing to protect them. Meanwhile, in Pakistan the growing threat to Christians was highlighted by the recent killing of the elder brother of Younis Tasadaq in January. Younis Tasadaq had been accused under the "blasphemy law" in 1998, but was released and managed to escape to America in 1999. In 2007 he returned to Pakistan, and it is believed that Islamic radicals discovered he was back in the country and assassinated his brother, Simon, whom they mistook for Younis. So far police have refused to register the case, claiming it was suicide. Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund, comments: "Christian minorities in Pakistan need our prayers, especially the beleaguered Christians of the North West Frontier Province, who face the pressure of shari`a as well as the violence of Islamic militants. I am thankful to the Lord for their faithfulness and courage in the face of such sustained pressure." Â Please join with us in prayer... 1. Pray for the grieving families of Sajid William and Simon Tasadaq and for all who knew them. 2. Pray for courage and hope for Pakistani Christians, many of whom have received death threats. 3. Thank the Lord for their faithfulness to Him, that they would rather die than convert to Islam. Tuesday December 16, 2008 PAKISTAN: DOWRY DEMANDED FROM CAPTOR OF CHRISTIAN GIRL Lawyers try to put financial pressure on husband to secure 13-year-old girl’s release. ISTANBUL, December 16 (Compass Direct News) – After a judge yesterday placed new financial and social pressure on the captors of a Pakistani girl who was kidnapped and converted to Islam, attorneys have guarded optimism they can return her to custody of her Christian parents. Judge Malik Saeed Ijaz ordered the girl’s husband, Amjad Ali, to pay a dowry of 100,000 rupees (US$1,275) and allow her parents visitation rights, two actions required by typical Pakistani marriage protocol. At press time he had done neither. The judge gave Saba Masih, 13, the opportunity to talk with her family during yesterday’s hearing, but she remained mostly silent behind her veil, offering only blunt replies. “I don’t want to see my parents. They are Christians and I am a Muslim,” she said, according to her parents’ attorney. Her younger sister Aneela Masih, who was also kidnapped but returned to her family three months ago, pleaded with her older sister to return home. The 10-year-old told her that Christmas was coming and she didn’t want her sister to spend it with those “who are not our people.” Saba Masih appeared at the Multan branch of Lahore’s High Court yesterday along with her Muslim husband and his family. Her parents filed a contempt petition last month against her captors for failing to follow Pakistani marriage protocol. Islamic law (sharia), however, gives a wife the right to relinquish a dowry. Lawyers said they fear that the Muslim family will pressure Saba Masih to claim this right in order to offset growing financial pressure. Lawyers hope that if her mother can visit her, it will convince her to leave her husband and come home to the family; her family believes he has threatened her with violence if she attempts to rejoin them. At Monday’s hearing, Saba Masih still appeared reluctant to return to her family. Relatives said they were praying that she would change her mind and that the captors would lose their influence over her. “The main thing is Saba must be ready herself to come back,” said her uncle, Khalid Raheel, the family spokesman. “But she isn’t ready to come back yet, and I don’t know how they are convincing her.” On Wednesday (Dec. 17) the judge is expected to adjourn the case and issue a deed requiring Ali to pay the dowry at the convenience of the Masih family. The judge yesterday threatened Ali with prison time if he failed to carry out this order. Akbar Durrani, attorney for the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), said the attorneys might try to use Aneela Masih’s testimony of kidnapping to take the case to the Supreme Court if other options fail. Prostitution Business The Christian family’s lawyer said the attempt to force Ali to pay a dowry was a tactic to mount financial pressure on Saba Masih’s husband and to convince her to return home. Her family and their lawyers believe she has stayed with her Muslim husband because he and his family have issued death threats. The Christian family’s chances of winning run against the judicial status quo for Pakistani religious minorities, but the new push comes after a Sept. 9 ruling that returned Aneela Masih to her parents, a rare legal victory for non-Muslims. “We filed this [contempt] petition so she would come into the court, see her family and hopefully change her statement,” said Durrani of CLAAS. “We also want to put pressure on the Muslim family members because they are afraid of litigation, since they have to pay all these legal expenses.” Aneela and Saba Masih were kidnapped on June 26 while traveling to visit their uncle in Sarwar Shaheed, northwest of Multan. Their parents say local fruit vendor Muhammad Arif Bajwa and three others kidnapped them in Chawk Munda, a small town in south Punjab. Saba Masih was married to Ali the next day. Bajwa and Ali registered a case with the police on June 28 for custody of the girls based on their alleged conversion to Islam. Local residents regard the men as serial kidnappers with connections to a human trafficking ring. The girls’ first defense attorney believed they could have been raped and sold to a brothel. Ironically, attorneys said, the kidnappers’ alleged desire to exploit Saba Masih may now be the best hope of her returning to her parents, as keeping her has become not lucrative but increasingly costly with court hearings continuing and legal fees multiplying. “These [kidnappers] don’t have an emotional link to Saba,” Durrani told Compass by phone. “They are in the business of prostitution and only wanted to use these girls for their business.” Prosecuting attorneys said they have a growing optimism that they can regain custody of Saba Masih, something they thought unlikely two months ago. Long, Hard Battle In previous hearings, a judge allowed Saba Masih to choose whether or not she would return to her family, even though Pakistan marriage law requires the approval of legal guardians at the age of 16. The judge determined that her age was 17 based on her testimony and a report by a medical board pressured by Muslim groups to inflate her age. He did not accept as evidence her birth certificate and baptismal record that showed her age as 13. Younis Masih and his wife first saw their daughters after their kidnapping at a July hearing. The girls were in the company of 16 Muslims and were said to be under pressure to claim they had converted to Islam. After Aneela Masih returned to her family in September, she claimed that their captors threatened to kill them and their family if they did not do everything asked of them. Previously it had been reported that she was raped while in captivity, but there was no medical evidence that she was sexually abused or manhandled, lawyers said. Her sister appears to be suffering, Durrani said. “The family has told us that Saba Masih is not in good condition – most of the time she cries and is not satisfied there,” Durrani said. Recurrent Problem Kidnapping of Christians in the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million is not uncommon. Many captors believe they will not be convicted if caught due to the penal code’s influence by sharia, which grants non-Muslims second-class status in society. Every year there are cases of Pakistani Christian children kidnapped, killed or exploited by those who believe their parents are powerless. Last month a Muslim family in Nankan kidnapped the 7-year-old son of Pakistani Christian Binyamin Yusef, 30, over a land dispute. Two days later police found his son’s body, which showed signs of torture and rape. Police did not register the case when Yusef initially approached them. CLAAS representatives hope to open court action against the alleged perpetrators. Wednesday December 24, 2008 PAKISTAN: POLICEMAN TORTURES, PARALYZES CHRISTIAN Disabled Christian waits in 9-year legal limbo, sent to prison for 'kidnapping.' ISTANBUL, December 23 (Compass Direct News) – A Pakistani Christian boy’s quarrel with a Muslim policeman’s son has led to his father’s imprisonment, torture, paralysis, and five-year prison sentence. The father’s health condition has become so fragile that he was temporarily released from prison and sent to a Faisalabad hospital on Sunday (Dec. 21). Emanuel Masih, 43, is now in stable condition, his attorney told Compass. Masih, of Faisalabad, a father of six and a former street sweeper, is trying to commute his prison sentence after police officer Omer Draz tortured him and had him imprisoned on trumped-up charges originating from a quarrel between their sons nine years ago. The situation began in 1999 when his son Saleem, 9 at the time, was involved in a dispute with Draz’s son at the children's Muslim-majority elementary school. The next day to protect Saleem, Emanuel Masih and his brother-in-law Amin Masih accompanied Saleem to a bus station, along with Saleem’s brothers, to subdue the police officer. Draz, however, attacked Saleem and Emanuel Masih’s other sons. Following the incident Draz conspired with his housecleaner Zaniran Bibi, a Christian, to have Emanuel Masih arrested. She claimed that Emanuel Masih was responsible for the kidnapping of her son, who had gone missing some time earlier. There was no evidence to link Emanuel Masih to the kidnapping, his attorney said. Police arrested Emanuel Masih along with Amin Masih, who was also falsely implicated in the kidnapping, without possibility of bail. The two men were tortured for a month, according to a report from the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) advocacy group. Draz had a regular routine of torture for Emanuel Masih and his brother-in-law: He gathered them together, dragged them outside the police station and beat them with iron rods. A month of these beatings paralyzed Emanuel Masih’s arms and legs. “They took (them) to a private house and beat them there,” said CLAAS lawyer Akbar Durrani to Compass. “They used a separate house because they are afraid of the courts.” Emanuel Masih was then sent to judicial lock-up since he was too weak to attend a court hearing. The prison superintendent was so surprised at his condition he called on Emanuel Masih’s younger brother, Jabar Masih, to provide him physical care. Emanuel Masih is also illiterate. Due to his injuries he could not work and had to rely on donations from charity groups. He has regained partial use of his legs but still cannot use his arms. He has been unemployed since 1999. The two men were eventually released on bail. In the intervening nine years, Emanuel Masih and Amin Masih continued to attend court hearings. But on May 24 they were arrested and given a five-year prison sentence along with a fine of 25,000 rupees (US$320). Lawyers appealed the decision in September at a Faisalabad court. Trying to get out Emanuel Masih could be released from prison due to an article in Pakistan criminal law that requires proper facilities for an incapacitated person. If they are not available the prisoner can be released without a court order. In September Durrani filed a petition of release to Pakistani Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta, who is in charge of the country’s internal security. Without the use of his arms, Emanuel Masih could not survive in prison unless Amin assisted him. “His brother-in-law feeds and washes him," Durrani said. "That’s why he has been able to survive until now.” Gupta requested a medical examination of Emanuel Masih, which declared him incapacitated. The final decision to let him go rests with the jail superintendent, who received the report from the home secretary in early December. Faisalabad is located in Punjab, near the Indian border. Radical religious elements in Punjab have become active in carrying out Islamic terrorist acts outside Pakistani borders. Two of the nine identified gunmen in the Nov. 26 attacks in Mumbai that killed 188 and injured 293 were from this city of 2.6 million. On Wednesday, Dec. 17, Muslims set fire to a church in a nearby village as its parishioners were decorating for Christmas. The attackers left behind a letter telling the Christians they would be damned to hell if they did not become Muslims, according to International Christian Concern. Parish priest Yaqoob Yousaf has called for security forces to arrest the culprits quickly, for fear of similar attacks on the congregation during its Christmas Day services.