Faisalabad
11.00 am, from Catholic Church Railway Road to Press Club via NCJP
Hyderabad
11.00 am, at Miran Muhammad Shah Road near Press Club, via Movement for Peace and Tolerance (MPT) and Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC)
Lahore
2.00 pm Simla Pahari to Charring Cross via Taimur Rahman
Islamabad: 5.00 pm, opposite Mr Books via Marvi Simed
More info: Citizens For Democracy
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Contributing to the discussion on the lynching deaths of two boys in Sialkot, Nafees Muhammad has put together some of the reported instances of religious intolerance and bigotry that took place in different cities of Pakistan from 1990 to 2009.
The incidents listed below are by no means exhaustive. If you know of another such incident of faith-based violence, please, add it to the list via comments to this post.
Violence and vendetta against non-Muslims and assumed non-Muslims is escalating. There were 13 incidents reported from 1990 to 1999 and 25 from 2000 to 2009. 2010 may be the worst year of all.
Mourning the Sialkot Killings
By Nafees Muhammad
Indeed, it was a highly condemnable and deplorable act of crime against two young boys in Sialkot. I know the media has been very positively covering this incident and there is a chance the culprits may be apprehended one day, tried, and punished. A matter of concern for me is that this event is mostly being reviewed and analyzed in isolation from other similar acts of lynchings against the suspected robbers and those who belonged to a minority community and were blamed for committing blasphemous act.
When a Hindu worker of a mill was lynched by a mob in Karachi a few years ago, his family and the whole community was scared of facing a similar act against them and there was no media coverage about their miseries. Likewise, the Gojra incident wherein 7 or 8 Christians were burnt alive remain a dead issue for the court and the media.
All those who talked about and wrote about the present event of lynching of these two boys missed to say a few words about those people. Why? Wasn’t that a similar act of lynching? Those who think that lynching of a person belonging to different faith, ethnic group, or nationality is ignorable, one day may have to face the same crime themselves. Now Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) activists are enraged and willing to attack the family members of those who were involved in the Sialkot incident, but we all know how they all supported the culprits of Gojra incident.
Following is a list of the blasphemy incidents that have been committed in the name of religion in this country from 1990 to 2009.
2009
SAHIWAL, Sept 6
Timely intervention averted a Gojra-like tragedy in a Chichawatni village 8/11-L on Sunday after representatives of Christian and Muslim faiths, with the assistance of inter-faith activists and police, thwarted the nefarious designs of unscrupulous elements.
KASUR, Sept 5
Phoolnagar Sadar police registered a blasphemy case against an alleged faith healer and his six disciples under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) following a protest of hundreds of people in Jambar Kalan on Multan Road on Saturday. Residents of Jamber Kalan continued their protest on the second day for the registration of a blasphemy case and threw traffic on Multan Road out of gear for quite some time.
KASUR, Aug 20
A prominent sect of Muslims on Thursday took to the street agitating alleged blasphemy by some representatives of the rival sect. More than 100 agitators blocked Bhasarpura Road by placing burnt tyres and demanded that the police register a case under blasphemy law against their rivals who, they alleged, broke a marble slab inscribed with ‘Darood Sharif’ at the main gate of Gulzar-i-Medina Masjid in Ayub Town.
SHEIKHUPURA/LAHORE, Aug 4
Two people were killed when a mob of hundreds of people, including factory workers, attacked a leather processing unit near Muridke on Tuesday over alleged desecration of Quranic verses. Leather unit owner Sheikh Najeeb Zafar is among the dead. At least 24 assailants were apprehended in a late-night development.
Sanghar, August 5
An angry mob attacked the house of an elderly woman in District Sanghar, Sindh, accusing her of desecrating the Holy Quran. A case has not yet been registered but the District Bar Association assured the mob that if the woman – identified as Akhtari Malkani – is found guilty, she will be charged under the Blasphemy Law.
Gojra, August 1
Seven people were burnt alive and 18 others injured in Gojra, District Toba Tek Singh in Punjab after fresh violence erupted in the town over the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran three days ago. More than 50 houses were set on fire.
Azafi Abadi, July 31
A mob burnt 75 houses of members of the Christian community over the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran in the village Azafi Abadi at Gojra-Faisalabad Road. Seventy-five houses and two churches were burnt by the residents of a neighbouring village.
Layyah, February
Five Ahmadis in Punjab’s Layyah district were arrested on charges of writing blasphemous remarks in the toilets of Kot Sultan’s Gulzar-e-Madina mosque. No evidence or witness was presented. They were just detained on a ‘presumption of guilt,’ stated the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
2008
Karachi, April 8
Jagdesh Kumar, a 27 year old Hindu worker, was beaten to death by fellow Muslim workers in his factory in Karachi on the charge of blasphemy. The incident took place in the presence of policemen. Some reports suggested that the victim was in love with a Muslim girl that angered the Muslim workers, who decided to teach him a lesson.
Khanewal, March 6
An elderly man, Altaf Hussain, was arrested for desecrating the Holy Quran in Kabir wala Town of Khanewal District in Punjab. The spokesman for the Ahmadiya community countered that the charges against the 80-year-old were false.
2007
Faisalabad, October 28
The police arrested Muhammad Imran of Faisalabad for allegedly setting the Holy Quran on fire. He was kept in a torture cell for three days and later in solitary confinement without anyone attending to his injuries. He was released in April 2009.
Islamabad, May 17
The nursing school at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad was shut down and seven Christian staff members suspended after female students of Jamia Hafsa protested over allegations that blasphemy had been committed at the school. Rumours spread that verses from the Quran posted on a wall had been defaced. School authorities denied all such claims. Christians lost their jobs.
Kotri, April 13
Sattar Masih, a 29-year-old worker at a water pumping station in Kotri city of Sindh, was allegedly attacked by Muslim extremists for uttering blasphemous remarks. An imam of a local mosque, Maulvi Umer, announced some written papers against Prophet Mohammad were found outside the mosque authored by Sattar. Muslim worshipers attacked Masih’s house and tried to kill him but the police arrived before it could happen. Masih was later arrested. Later, in January 2009, the accusation was declared baseless.
Toba Tek Singh, April 1
A case against Salamat Masih, 45, and four other Christians was filed for the desecration of Islamic posters and stickers containing the name of Allah, Prophet Mohammad and other Islamic verses in the Toba Tek Singh (Punjab) police station. The SHO allegedly converted the report into an FIR within 20 minutes without initiating any investigation. Subsequently, 80 young Muslims from the neighbourhood ransacked the houses of Christians in the colony.
Kasur, January 22
Martha Bibi, a Christian woman from Kot Nanak Singh, District Kasur, was accused of making derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad and defaming his sacred name.
2006
September 21
Shahid Masih, 17, was jailed on suspicion of ripping book pages containing Quranic verses in Punjab.
Karachi, May 24
A Christian, Qamar David, was arrested from Karachi for allegedly sending blasphemous messages to some Muslims via cell phone as revenge for attacks against churches by Muslims in Sukkur, Sindh, and Sangla Hill, Punjab, earlier that year.
2005
Lahore, December 23
Five members of the Mehdi Foundation International were arrested in Wapda Town, Lahore, for putting up posters of their leader Riaz Gohar Shahi showing him as ‘Imam Mehdi’. The Anti-Terrorism Court sentenced each to five years of imprisonment under 295-A of PPC. Their prisoners’ records posted outside the cell falsely indicate that they had been sentenced under 295-C – the Blasphemy Law.
Sangla Hill, November 12
After receiving frequent death threats, Parvez Aslam Chaudhry, a lawyer who defended many accused for blasphemy, was allegedly charged with flinging a burning matchstick on an Islamic school in the Sangla Hill stadium in Punjab which caught fire. Chaudhry was also physically assaulted outside Lahore High Court.
August 11
Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the Anti-Terrorist Court found Younus Shaikh guilty of defiling a copy of the Quran, and propagating religious hatred among society. Shaikh was convicted because he wrote a book ‘Shaitan Maulvi’ (Satanic Cleric) in which he mentioned stoning to death as a punishment for adultery was not mentioned in the Quran. The judge imposed a fine of Rs100, 000 rupees and sentenced him to lifetime imprisonment.
2003
Lahore, November 20
Anwar Masih, a Christian labourer and resident of Shahdara, Lahore, was charged for insulting the Prophet in front of his neighbour. Masih had converted from Islam to Christianity. He was acquitted by the Lahore High Court in December 2004. Later, in August 2007, he lost his job in a factory when his employer was threatened for employing a ‘blasphemer’. Masih went into hiding.
Peshawar, July 09
A journalist in the NWFP was sentenced to life imprisonment for blasphemy. Munawar Mohsin, a sub-editor at the Frontier Post newspaper, was convicted of publishing a blasphemous letter in the editorial section that led to violent protests across the country.
2002
Lahore, July 18
Additional sessions judge in Lahore imposed death penalty and a fine of Rs500,000 on Anwar Kenneth, a former officer of the Fisheries Department, in a blasphemy case registered with the Gawalmandi police. He was arrested on June 15, 2001, while distributing a pamphlet (Gospel of Jesus).
Lahore, June 11
A 55-year-old Muslim cleric, Mohammed Yousaf Ali, convicted of blasphemy was shot dead in the Lahore prison. The murderer was another prisoner, Tariq Mota, a member the banned Sunni militant group Sipah-e-Sahaba. Ali had been sentenced to death for blasphemy on August 5, 2000, in a case filed by another militant group who disapproved of his religious views. Ali had been vocal in condemning religious extremism.
Islamabad, October
Pakistani authorities charged Younus Shaikh, a teacher at a medical college in Islamabad, with blasphemy on account of remarks that students claimed he made during a lecture. The students alleged that Shaikh had said Prophet Mohammed’s parents were non-Muslims because they died before Islam existed. A judge ordered that Shaikh pay a fine of Rs100,000, and be hanged. In November 2003 he was acquitted after which he left Pakistan.
1998
Sahiwal, May 6
Roman Catholic Bishop John Joseph of Pakistan shot himself in the Sahiwal courthouse to highlight the case of Ayub Masih, a Christian sentenced to death for allegedly uttering blasphemous remarks against Prophet Muhammad. The death of the 66-year-old led to protests by Christians. Subsequently, the Lahore High Court ordered a stay of execution for Masih. His fate remains undecided.
1997
Lahore, October 19
Judge Arif Iqbal Hussain Bhatti was assassinated in his Lahore office after acquitting two people who were accused of blasphemy.
1996
Lahore, October 14
Ayub Masih, a Pakistani Christian bricklayer, was arrested for violation of Section 295-C. The complaint was filed by Masih’s neighbour who claimed that Masih had invited them to accept Christianity and recommended that they read Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses. He later made legal history when his appeal against the death penalty was turned down by the High Court in 2002.
1995
Lahore, July
Catherine Shaheen, a teacher in Lahore, Punjab, was denied her salary on grounds of blasphemy. Since then she has been in hiding because of threats against her life made by some fundamentalists.
1993
Mianwali, November 21
Riaz Ahmad, his son, and two nephews from the Ahmadi community were arrested in Mianwali District for their blasphemous remarks. The rivalry over Ahmad’s position as village headman was the real motivation for the complaint against him. The Sessions Court rejected the bail applications of the accused, however, the Supreme Court granted him bail in December 1997.
Gujranwala, May
Twelve-year-old Salamat Masih, Manzoor Masih, 37, and Rehmat Masih, 42, were charged with writing derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammed on the wall of a mosque in Ratta Dhotran village of district Gujranwala – where they lived. All the three were in fact illiterate and did not know how to write.
Samundri, February
Anwar Masih, a Christian from Samundri in Punjab, went to jail upon a Muslim shopkeeper’s allegation that, during an argument over money, Masih had insulted the Prophet Mohammed.
1992
Punjab, November
Gul Masih, a Christian, was sentenced to death after having remarked to his Muslim neighbour in Punjab that he had read that ‘Prophet Mohammed had 11 wives, including a minor.’
Lahore,
Bantu Masih, 80, and Mukhtar Masih, 50, were arrested on the allegation of committing blasphemy. Both died in the Lahore police station. Bantu Masih was stabbed eight times by a fundamentalist in the presence of policemen. He later succumbed to his injuries, whereas Mukhtar Masih was tortured to death in police custody.
Faisalabad, January 6
Christian teacher Naimat Ahmar, 43, was butchered by a young member of a militant religious group, Farooq Ahmad, on the office premises of the District Education Officer in Faisalabad while on duty. Ahmad killed him because the deceased had reportedly used highly insulting remarks against Islam and Prophet Mohammed and by killing a blasphemer he had won his way into heaven. No case of blasphemy was registered against him nor was he tried by any court. Ahmar left behind a widow and four children.
1991
Faisalabad, December 10
Gul Masih of Faisalabad was charged for using sacrilegious language about the Prophet and his wives. The complainant, Sajjad Hussain, had a quarrel with him over repair of a street water tap. Masih was sentenced to death by the Sessions Court, Sargodha, on November 02, 1992. Years later he was acquitted but continued to receive death threats. He is now in Germany on asylum.
Karachi, October 8
Chand Barkat, 28, a bangle stall holder in Karachi, was charged with blasphemy by another bangle vendor, Arif Hussain, because of professional jealousy. Hussain decided to teach Barkat a lesson by accusing him of using derogatory language against Prophet Mohammed and his mother. Barkat was charged under section 295-C of PPC, however, he was acquitted by the Sessions Court for want of evidence.
1990
Lahore, December 7
Tahir Iqbal, a Christian convert from Islam and resident of Lahore, was accused of abusing Prophet Mohammad at the time of Azaan and imparting anti-Islamic education to children during tuitions. The sessions judge in July 1991 turned down his bail application after he learnt that Iqbal had converted to Christianity, which, he stated, was a cognisable offence. Later on July 21, 1992, before Iqbal’s defence lawyer could appear in court, he was poisoned in police custody.
Contributed by Muhammad Nafees (mohammad.nafees@yahoo.com) to CMKP Digest #2231.
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In a delightful show of positive power, the 100,000-250,000 striking workers of power looms industries in Faisalabad have returned to work after winning a 100% of their strike mandate. The workers went on strike earlier this month to demand the implementation of the 17% wage increase suggested by the Minimum Wages Board in 2010-2011 provincial budget.
The striking workers and their leaders faced extreme hardship in the 24 days of the strike. Target killings of two union leaders, imposition of Section 144, and daily ongoing threats to strikers from the goons of the mill owners and the local keepers of law and order. The striking workers were lathi-charged, tear-gassed, fired-upon, arrested and injured but nothing made them cross the picket lines.
The strike was called July 5 by Labour Quomi Movement (LQM), an organization representing 600,000 power loom workers working in 250,000 power loom factories in Faisalabad, Jhang and Toba Tek Singh. The LQM lost its founder and lead-organizer/negotiator Mustansar Randhawa (35) on July 6 when he was gunned down with his brother outside the LQM office in a shameful act of target killing. Randhawa was also a leading member of National Trade Union Federation (NFTU).
By July 20th, with 15,000 power loom factories closed shut, the cost of the strike was estimated at 9 Billion Rupees.
Workers’ demands were met July 29 when 25,000 workers marched over to picket the Commissioner’s office. It was a peaceful demonstration where workers walked 20 kilometers without any incidence of violence.
This action has many gains. About 250,000 power looms workers will have a 17% higher pay cheque, a great sense of power in coming together, and faith in the crucial role of their allies and supporters. As well, it gives immeasurable strength to the emerging political voice of Pakistan’s ‘Civil Society’, the submerged left that represents the democratic and secular segments of Pakistani society. It tells us that in the political arena, a vital new element has surfaced to fight with the armed religious fanatics and the traditional holders of power in Pakistan.
Information from
‘Stop repression against struggling power loom workers in Punjab’ by Pakistan Labour Federation (plfpk@yahoo.com) in SPN (socialist_pakistan_news@yahoogroups.com) July 20, 2010
‘Faisalabad Strike update’ (July 29), ‘The strike enters seventh day’ (July 26), ‘A total victory for power looms workers’ (July 29) by Farooq Tariq (farooqtariq@hotmail.com) in SPN (socialist_pakistan_news@yahoogroups.com), July 2010
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Two Christian brothers murdered in court rooms
Rashid Emmanuel and Sajid Emmanuel of Daud Nagar Faisalabad, the two brothers arrested July 2nd under false accusations of blasphemy, were today murdered in district courts by ‘an unknown person’.
What a great loss! Sad and telling. A hurtful provocation.
This senseless double murder has caused deep sorrow to the family and friends of Rashid and Sajid, and to all of us who were hoping for their release after a fair trial.
Rashid and Sajid were not allowed to stand trial because the blasphemy case against them was propped up by extreme right wingers on the basis of ‘doctored’ evidence. Those religious fanatics had made their intentions clear in public gatherings in the past week where ‘Muslim leaders from various religious political parties, among them Khatme-e-Nabowat, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan and Namoos-e-Risalat reportedly reiterated death threats against the brothers, because the government had not sentenced them to death. We are told that among the speakers were Sahibzada Abulkhair Mahumed Zubair and Syed Hidayat Hussain Shah, who are known for inciting violence in the area. At the meeting it was announced that a set of gallows had been set up at the tower of Ghanta Ghar (in the centre of Faisalabad), in preparation for the hanging of blasphemous Christians.’ Asian Human Rights Commission, Urgent Appeals, July 14, 2010
The fact that Sajid and Rashid were murdered inside the court rooms is yet another slap of supremacy thrown on the face of the government of Pakistan, and at the same time, on its peace-loving people who are struggling to develop a more secular and democratic environment where citizens’ basic human rights are protected.
Details are not available at this time except for the following information that came as part of another message from Labour Party Pakistan (LPP).
‘Police today also failed to protect the two Christian brothers falsely accused of blasphemy. Both were murdered today in district courts by an unknown person. There has been a violent reaction to these murders by the Christian youth. In retaliation, Muslims youth are also attacking Waris Pura area where the majority is Christians. At the time of writing this report, there are reports of cross firing in Waris Pura.’ (socialist_pakistan_news@yahoogroups.com in ‘Strike to go ahead despite the ban and threats’)
The murders have taken place in a situation where a ‘strategic dialogue’ is taking place with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Islamabad (Pak-US strategic dialogue to enhance bilateral ties: Gilani), and there are various reports of violence and unrest. Intelligence reports reveal that ‘terrorists have planned to attack Pakistan Air Force bases and landing strips across the country, as well as women’s educational institutions in Lahore and Rawalpindi.’ (Reports warn of attacks on PAF bases, women’s institutes ). In the last 24 hours, people have come out to protest their living conditions, for example against load-shedding (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), and against torture by Rangers (Kasur and area). Workers are protesting and are on strike in various cities for better pay and working conditions. There were riots in different parts of Karachi over ‘water and power’. A suicide attack on an imambargah in Sargodha injured 15 Shia worshippers. Earlier, there were attacks on Ahmadi Muslims, and on the shrine of Data Sahib, a Sunni Muslim Saint.
In this violent wave, the unjust and political killings of Rashid and Sajid are a cruel mistake that may cost a lot more innocent lives.
To pay respects, for more information and to give support, contact
Atif J. Pagaan at Pakistan Minorities Democratic Harmony Foundation
Email: atifpagaan@yahoo.com
For updates on this issue, check
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/
http://www.viewpointonline.net/
http://www.ahrchk.net/
http://lifethelove.wordpress.com/
View earlier reports
July 17, 2010
July 12, 2010
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A Muslim mob of 400 zealots is tracking two individuals while threatening the 100,000 Christians living in the city of Faisalabad in Pakistan. The mob wants the lives of two Christians who had been accused under the treacherous Blasphemy Laws for alleged insults to Prophet Mohammad PBUH in a handwritten pamphlet.
As it has been in the past, members of a religious minority are hunted down under Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws where the ‘evidence’ is doctored and the action is a show of deadly strength to intimidate all non-Muslims, non-Sunni Muslims and secular minded Muslims in the country.
Various human rights and inter-faith organizations have demanded from the successive governments to repeal the Blasphemy Laws but each Government protects it to support Sunni Fanatics and to fulfill its own political ambitions.
Below is an eyewitness account by Atif Jamil Pagaan, a prominent social activist and the director of Harmony Foundation in Faisalabad, that was posted to the mailing list of Labour Party Pakistan (socialist_pakistan_news.yahoogroups.com) by Farooq Tariq.
Muslim mob demands death sentence for alleged blasphemy law accused
By Atif Jamal Pagaan
‘Thousands of Muslims took out a procession on the roads of Faisalabad from the afternoon till evening on July 11, 2010. They were demanding death sentences for Rashid Emmanuel and Sajid Emmanuel of Daud Nagar Faisalabad, two brothers who were arrested on July 2, 2010 on the charges of writing a pamphlet with blasphemous remarks about Prophet Mohammad.
‘Both the brothers were arrested and are in the Civil Lines Police Station. Rashid and Sajid reside in a street next to my home.
‘The protest started on the evening of July 10, 2010 in Waris Pura where more than 100,000 Christians live. The mob wanted to attack and burn the area where Rashid and Sajid live and burn their house. The protesters chanted slogans, raised weapons and announced to teach a lesson to the Christian community in Waris Pura. More than 400 protesters continued their protest for six hours in which they stoned the Catholic Church in Waris Pura and burnt tyres on the roads.
‘Despite the presence of the police the protesters did not disburse but announced to continue their protest on July 11, 2010.
‘The Christian community in Faisalabad especially in Waris Pura, the second biggest slum in the city, was scared and many of them fled to their relatives in other towns and villages. The mob threatened that if Rashid and Sajid are not given death sentence they will themselves take revenge not only from the two brothers but from the whole Christian community.
‘Rashid, 32, is a pastor in his own ministry and his brother Sajid is a student of Masters in Business Administration. The charges levied on them are false as no evidence or witness is present. The handwritten photocopied pamphlet is distributed by some unknown people and the names and telephone numbers of Rashid and Sajid are printed in it.
‘The situation is still tense in Waris Pura and Muslim youth is roaming in the streets holding weapons and sticks. Christian community is scared as they remember the Gojra incident last year in which nine Christians were killed and burnt alive and more than 120 homes were completely burnt by a Muslim mob who wanted to give punishment to the Christian community in that area for alleged charges of Blasphemy on one Talib Masih.’
To stand against Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws and to lend support to its current victims, contact Pagaan at:
Atif Jamil Pagaan
Pakistan Minorities Democratic Harmony Foundation
Email: atifpagaan@yahoo.com
Image: The back page of the poster ‘The Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan’, published by National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP)
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Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) reports that a 17-year-old girl was abducted by police officials in Faisalabad, who ‘kept’ her for 16 days in ‘private custody’ to extract a murder confession. During that time, her elder sister was also brought into that personal ‘police lockup’ and held naked for three days ‘to pressure the sister to confess to the charges.’
‘On March 14, 2008, one Mr. Faisal son of Sakhawat attacked the house of Mr. Imran, son of Khalid Iqbal. During the exchange of fire Imran was shot and died on the spot. The deceased was the fiancee of victim and on the pursuance of the father the victim was arrested and suffered humiliation, abuse and rape to confess the murder of her own fiancee.’
In other words, two young men had a shooting match, probably over a woman, in which one of them died; the local police responded by arresting the fiance of the dead young man on suspicions of murder; and in order to extract a confession, ran a 16-day torture and sexual abuse campaign that involved everything in the book, and all that was not in it. For sure, Guantanamo Bay prison officials may have some rules to follow and someone to answer to but a private prison run by a Punjab police officer in rural or urban Punjab may not have either.
Labourer Manzoor Ahmad, father of the two victims/survivors, after many unsuccessful attempts to contact ‘higher police officials’ to register a case against the perpetrators, ‘filed an application on July 01, 2008, in the court of Mr. Nadeem Gulzar, the additional session judge, who ordered the police station of Nishatabad to register the case of rape in custody, illegal detention, torture and keeping naked in lockup. However, the district police refused to follow the orders of the session judge. On July 18, the police station filed the case against SI Investigations, Shujat Malhi, under section 376 of criminal procedural code (rape) but not on the other charges which were ordered by the session judge. Until now no one has been arrested and all the perpetrators continue in their duties as usual.’
The AHRC report also cites an earlier case involving the same SI Iinvestigations Shujat Malhi, where when a 21-year-old woman of Jaranwala District was raped by two persons who were arrested but this officer took bribes and then released them. It may sound ironic but he did first ask the woman survivor for the money but was refused.
Raise your voice against this ongoing aggression against women by Punjab Police officers:
Send An Appeal Letter
These are not isolated cases. View the Uddari Report on human rights violations in pakistan prepared from the last ten years of ‘Urgent Appeals’ section at AHCR. Countless instances of sexual violence against women in the Punjab are carried out by influential men of an area against the women, children and men of less privileged groups. The power-hungry men who try to disgrace women enjoy privileges that are economic, political, racial, religious and gender-based. These are local landholders, industrialist, religious leaders, government officials, police and army personnel. The ‘less-privileged’ groups include women, racial and religious minority communities, peasants, labourers, the homeless, and human rights and democracy activists.
Most acts of violence committed against women as individuals are being committed by influential men against women who are living in poverty in rural and urban Punjab; and, most crimes committed against women as a population group are committed by religiously-charged men of privileged and non-privileged groups who believe that it is their duty to gain control over womens’ sexuality by forcing them to follow a certain belief system. The truth is, I fail to find a notion more vulgar than this though forwarding the story of Adam and Eve as a serious creation theory comes close.
The AHRC suggests to send letters to Punjab authorities to take action against the police officials of Faisalabad; to urge the authorities to provide protection to women; and, to pay compensation to the victims. Sample letter is online at the AHRC Website, click below:
Send An Appeal Letter
Information pointed to by Baseer Naveed of Asian Human Rights Commission baseer@ahrchk.org at [cmkp] Digest Number 1554
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