A Muslim mob torched a church and the homes of a number of Christians in the Punjab last week, following claims that local Christians had committed blasphemy by desecrating the Koran.
The Sept 11 attack in the village of Sambrial, approximately 20 miles west of the city of Sialkot near Pakistan’s border with Kashmir, marks the fourth time in two months that Muslim mobs have attacked Christian neighbourhoods over alleged insults to the Koran, reports Aftab Mughal of Minorities Concern of Pakistan.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have condemned the attack and have asked Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to investigate the incident. Press reports from Pakistan report that President Zardari has called for calm, and promised the government would rebuild the church.
A lot of notable Christian leaders in that area are (understandably) critical of their flock being shot, beaten to death, or set on fire.
Do Muslim clerics in those countries ever criticize this sort of behavior?
As far as I can tell from the RI piece, all Pakistani “Muslim leaders” are indeed united — in condemning the Christians and demanding that they be punished! Apparently being incinerated is not enough.
Sadly, this kind of bitter persecution is all too common. Witness the savage attacks against Christians in the state of Orissa in India not long ago. May the Lord be their strength and shield, and their eternal reward.
Thanks for posting this, Kendall. We mustn’t be allowed to forget the horrendous suffering of our brothers and sisters in Christ aaround the world (Heb. 13:3).
David Handy+
I get so sickened by this sort of thing. Plus the sheer hypocrisy of it. When Sunnis bomb Shia mosques, as in Iraq, the Koran is blown to bits a million times over, but that does not seem to bring out the mobs. But the slightest pretext and suddenly there they are rampaging against Christians. I have never worked in Pakistan myself, but gather that the Christians there are often from the poorest sectors of society. How sad that they suffer more, and how desperate that we seem to have no leverage that we can bring to bear on the situation. But I for one will write to the Pakistani High Commissioner in London (= Ambassador) and urge you all, wherever you are, to do the same – politely, please, but expressing your shock at these outrages and calling for protection for the Christians.
I notice this story is from a religious web site. It is a gross scandal how the MSM ignores the regular murder and persecution of Christians all across the Moslem world. Then with a straight face they present Islalm as a “religion of peace.” No wonder that poor Christian girl in Florida is terrified of her Moslem parents in Ohio, but on the other hand, getting little media sympathy for her plight–probably because of the MSM’s self-brainwashing on Islam.
Just peace loving Muslims showing how Islam is a religion of peace!