Christians beaten to death for allegedly desecrating Qur’an in Pakistan
Bodies of couple burned in a brick kiln in Kot Radha Kishan, in latest case of violence against minorities accused of blasphemy.
A Muslim mob beat a Christian couple to death in Pakistan and burnt their bodies in the brick kiln where they worked for allegedly desecrating a Qur’an, police have said.
The attack in Kot Radha Kishan, 40 miles south-west of Lahore, is the latest example of violence against minorities accused of blasphemy.
“A mob attacked a Christian couple after accusing them of desecration of the holy Qur’an and later burnt their bodies at a brick kiln where they worked,” local police station official Bin-Yameen said.
Another police official confirmed the incident. The victims were only identified by their first names, Shama and Shehzad, and were married.
Pakistan’s brick-kiln workers are often subject to harsh practices. A study by the Bonded Labour Liberation Front Pakistan estimated that 4.5 million are indentured labourers.
Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif has constituted a three-member committee to fast track the investigation of the killings and ordered police to increase security at Christian neighbourhoods in the province, an official from his media office said.
Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in the majority-Muslim country, with even unproven allegations often prompting violence.
Anyone convicted, or even just accused, of insulting Islam, risks a violent death at the hands of vigilantes.
A Christian woman has been on death row since November 2010 after she was found guilty of making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad during an argument with a Muslim woman.
An elderly British man with severe mental illness, sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan in January, was shot by a prison guard last month.
Global rights watchdog Amnesty International urged Pakistan authorities to bring to justice those responsible for the killing.
“This vicious mob killing is just the latest manifestation of the threat of vigilante violence which anyone can face in Pakistan after a blasphemy accusation – although religious minorities are disproportionately vulnerable,” said David Griffiths, Amnesty International’s Deputy Asia Pacific director.
“Those responsible must be brought to justice and the Pakistani authorities have to ensure at-risk communities are proactively given the protection they need.”
ref; http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/04/pakistan-christian-couple-killed-alleged-blasphemy
MALAYSIA
MALAYSIA
In latest ‘Allah’ incident, Christian CDs and books seized at KLIA2
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — Hundreds of Christian compact discs (CDs) and books containing the word “Allah” were confiscated at the Kuala Lumpur International 2 airport in Sepang last Saturday.
The items were the personal belongings of a Christian man who had brought them in from Medan, Indonesia, and was on his way back to Sabah where he resides.
Sources, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, told Malay Mail Online that the Protestant church in Sabah that he attends is attempting to negotiate with the Home Ministry for the return of the books and the CDs.
The seizure of the Christian materials that describe God as “Allah”, an Arabic word which Malaysian Muslims deem exclusive to Islam, is the latest to demonstrate the unresolved quandary stemming from regulatory prohibitions against non-Muslim use of the word in the peninsula but not in Sabah and Sarawak.
The inconsistent rules previously caused over 2,000 copies of the Catholic weekly, the Herald, to be confiscated at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport a year ago on October 25.
The Home Ministry released the shipment two days later.
Much of the issue stems from the Catholic Church’s 2008 challenge against the Home Ministry for prohibiting its use of “Allah” in the Herald. The case came to an end when the Federal Court declined in June to hear the Catholic Church’s appeal against an appellate court decision upholding the ban.
The Federal Court’s decision rendered last year’s Court of Appeal ruling the authority in the issue, which triggered concern as the judges had then given their opinion that “Allah” was not integral to the Christian faith.
Although Chief Justice Tun Ariffin Zakaria later clarified that the opinion was non-binding on future cases, the effects of the appellate court ruling continue to be seen in existing cases and incidents.
Earlier this month, the Sabah Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) church won its appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s dismissal of its suit against the government over the seizure of children’s books containing the word “Allah”.
The Court of Appeal ruled that the case be sent back to the High Court.
In another case, eight CDs containing the word “Allah” were confiscated from a Sarawakian Christian called Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal airport in Sepang in 2008.
The Bumiputera Christian had brought in the CDs from Indonesia for personal use.
Although the High Court here ruled last July that the Home Ministry was wrong to detain the CDs and ordered their return, the government has insisted on holding on to the items pending an appeal against the decision.
The “Allah” issue also continues to disturb the Christian Bumiputera communities in Sabah and Sarawak, who typically use Bahasa Malaysia in their holy scriptures and religious practices.
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/in-latest-allah-incident-christian-cds-and-books-seized-at-klia2
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