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PostPosted: 19 Aug 2012 16:40 
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A Christian girl with Down's syndrome has been arrested on blasphemy charges in Pakistan, accused of burning pages inscribed with verses from the Koran, police and activists said.

Police say the girl, known as Rimsha, was arrested on Thursday after she was reported to be holding burnt pages which had Islamic text and Koranic verses on them.



http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-20/p ... my/4209160

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Christians have been forced to leave Mehrabad - an area of the capital where the girl lives with her parents - amid mounting Muslim fury.

"These Christians had sought shelter with their relatives in other parts of the city but now they are gradually returning to Mehrabad," a senior official of All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, said.

He said the girl had Down's syndrome - a condition which causes various degrees of learning difficulties - and he disputed the age given by police.

"She was just 11 to 12 years old," he said, adding it was a hugely sensitive issue.


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PostPosted: 19 Aug 2012 22:03 
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There is another case where they converted a mentally retarded person as a pretext to annex the village.
Mentally retarded Christian charged under Blasphemy in Pakistan

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Lahore: June 22, 2012. (PCP) A Blasphemy case has been registered against one Named Ramzan Masih son of Chiragh Masih in the city sukeheki about 150 KM away Lahore under section 295 C, FIR No. 202/12 PPC on complaint of a banned Islamic group Sipha-e-Sahaba. In accordance with the fact finding of the Voice team, the victim named Ramzan Masih is a mentally retarded person that is aged about 25 years and is the only son of his parents.

Pakistan is a very scary place to be a Christian, and it is a shame that the U.S. gives aid to this country and calls it an ally.
Quote:
“Pakistan's minority Christian community leaders have demanded an inquiry into the alleged poisoning of nine Christian nurses by their Muslim colleagues at a government-run hospital in Karachi,” Deutsche Welle reports.

“On 1st August 2009, thousands of extremist Muslims attacked the Christian town of Gojra city setting on fire more than sixty homes and burning 7 Christians alive,” the Pakistan Christian Post reports. Three years later, the victims of the attack and their families have yet to see justice as every Muslim charged for murder has since been acquitted.

“In the recent months, there have been several reports about the ongoing persecution, kidnapping and abduction of the Christian women and girls in Pakistan,” the Pakistan Christian Post reports.

“There is another subtle instrument of oppression against Christians in Pakistan, ‘land grabbing’. It is based on rent, purchase or mortgage of large plots of land including agricultural plots of their forefathers, and in Pakistan this abuse is systematically used by a number of landowners and powerful businessmen,” the Pakistan Christian Post reports.

Above from http://www.persecution.org/category/cou ... /pakistan/

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PostPosted: 20 Aug 2012 13:42 
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it is a shame that the U.S. gives aid to this country and calls it an ally.

The situation is very complex.on the one hand many terrorists find sanctuary in Pakistan.It seems that even the Pakistani ISI is shielding terrorists
Recently a top terrorist was caught in Delhi with US help,and the US is helping India to guard against further attacks
http://www.firstpost.com/world/abu-jind ... 56987.html
http://www.security-risks.com/security- ... -1284.html

But that does not mean that everyone in India is friendly towards the US.There is a lot of hatred as well
http://www.communistparty.in/2012/03/cp ... start.html

While the attitude towards towards christians is nowhere as violent as in Pakistan americans have been asked to leave
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 857747.cms
Please read the comments

How does this link to pakistan?
In my mind the situation is similar in Pakistan ,there are pros and cons.I feel that american aid to Pakistan should be in kind and not in cash.
India maintains some links with pakistan inspite of its suspicions
http://www.business-standard.com/india/ ... og/472745/

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 576971.cms

There are too many grey(ambiguous) areas .Cutting off relationships is no solution
Pakistan is indeed a scary place and that is the starting point
My perception is that in the West positions are clear and battle lines are clearly demarcated but that is not the case here

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PostPosted: 20 Aug 2012 19:01 
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A few more details: Apparently, the little girl was taking out the garbage and a neighbour noticed that there were partially burned pages from the Koran. (Of course we all happen to notice our neighbours' garbage - can't help it really.) He reported it to the local police, who were reluctant to take any action. An arrest was made only after it was a clear a riot would ensue if nothing were done.

(The source for the above was Al Jazeera.)

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PostPosted: 21 Aug 2012 00:30 
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19311098
Quote:
The police were initially reluctant to arrest her, but they came under a lot of pressure from a very large crowd, who were threatening to burn down Christian homes."

He said more than 600 people have fled from the Christian neighbourhood.


It takes Christ to learn to protect those in a minority

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PostPosted: 21 Aug 2012 08:26 
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Victoria Nuland

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In her daily press briefing on Monday, spokesperson Victoria Nuland welcomed reports that President Ali Asif Zardari had directed the Interior Ministry to review the arrest of the young girl, identified by local media as Rimsha Masih, whose age has been given as between 10 and 16 years in various media reports.

“We think that the president’s statement is very, very welcome. And we urge the government of Pakistan to protect not just its religious minority citizens, but also women and girls.”


As I said earlier Pakistan is a very complex place...

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PostPosted: 23 Aug 2012 07:35 
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My interest in Pakisatn is because we were one country prior to 1947.Ships enroute to africa for example would sail from Mumbai and then to karachi.We still have Indian origin Bishops in Pakistan

http://tribune.com.pk/story/425199/blas ... th-lawyer/


Quote-Rimsha, aged between 11 and 16, is being held in a jail in Rawalpindi, and her case has prompted concern from Western governments and fury from rights campaigners.
“The lawyers are facing difficulties to see the accused girl. The jail authorities have told them to get permission from the top authorities,” Shamaun Alfred Gill, a spokesman for All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), told AFP.
Her legal team said they had approached the higher authorities in Punjab province but could not get a go ahead for the meeting.
“I myself contacted the inspector general (of prisons) by phone and he told me that he will call me back, but I am still waiting to speak to him,” Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, one of Rimsha’s lawyers, told AFP.
“He is not receiving my calls now. Legally, they can’t stop a lawyer seeing his client in the jail but the authorities are refusing us a meeting.”-Unquote

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PostPosted: 23 Aug 2012 07:45 
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http://tribune.com.pk/story/425145/chri ... my-arrest/

Quote-----Neighbours accused her of blasphemy, a grave crime in the Islamic republic, where 97% of the population is Muslim and the tiny Christian minority has long suffered poverty and discrimination.


The Christians have continued to meet but did not hold a service on Sunday to avoid stoking tensions while trying to reach a negotiated solution to the crisis. In the meantime they fear for the future.
“If we can’t pray here any more, we’ll have to leave the area,” Ashraf Masih told AFP at the door of his modest home.
Some Muslims were keen to distance themselves from the fury surrounding Rimsha and demands for the Christians to leave.
The Christians rent their homes – and the building they use as a church – from Muslim landlords, who would lose out in the event of an exodus.
“I don’t want them to leave,” said Mohamed Mehtab Awan, a Muslim who rents around 30 run-down shacks to Christians. Malik Amjad, the owner of Rimsha’s family home, agreed.-----Unquote

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PostPosted: 29 Aug 2012 18:20 
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A Christian girl charged under strict blasphemy laws saw her chances of escaping a prison sentence increase yesterday after a court confirmed she was a minor suffering from a mental disability, reports Ucanews.

Medical tests determined Rimsha Masih was about 14 years old. She will face a juvenile court hearing tomorrow, said the Islamabad district court judge, Rana Jawad Hasan.

“She is underage and a minor, therefore the case should proceed under the juvenile law system,” he said.

Under Pakistani law, children under 15 must be tried in a juvenile court while those under 12 are deemed to be incapable of taking responsibility for their own actions and cannot be found guilty.




http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=32937

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PostPosted: 29 Aug 2012 21:23 
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That is good, but it doesn't solve the basic problem: that these laws are used to persecute the Christian minority.

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PostPosted: 02 Sep 2012 08:10 
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Pakistani Muslim cleric arrested for framing girl in custody for blasphemy
http://www.euronews.com/2012/09/02/paki ... blasphemy/

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PostPosted: 02 Sep 2012 19:13 
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'You know this is the only way to expel the Christians from this area'


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-02/c ... se/4238804

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PostPosted: 03 Sep 2012 05:09 
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You know this is the only way to expel the Christians from this area'

Typically hatred against Christians has no basis .so one has to fabricate evidence.This is true not only in Pakistan but also in India.Also hatred foreigners is also based on ridiculous ideologies.There is always a fear of letting foreign missionaries in-false allegations are made to prohibit entry So Westeners are demonised

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PostPosted: 08 Sep 2012 08:18 
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She has been released on Rs500,000 (US$5,200) bond and sent to an unknown location and apparently re-united with her family.

Pakistani Girl Accused of Blaspheming Islam Released from Jail

Quote:
VOA News

September 08, 2012
Pakistani officials say a mentally-challenged Christian girl accused of blaspheming Islam has been released from jail.

Rimsha Masih's release Saturday comes a day after a judge granted her bail, in a case that has drawn international outrage.

Rimsha, believed to be 14 years old, spent the last three weeks in jail near the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, after neighbors accused her of burning pages from the Quran.

Witnesses say an armored vehicle brought her Saturday from the jail in the city of Rawalpindi to a waiting helicopter. It is unclear where she was taken, but Pakistan's minister for national harmony told the French news agency (AFP) she was flown to a safe place where she was reunited with her family. ... Read

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PostPosted: 22 Sep 2012 20:40 
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Pakistani police have told a court that a Christian girl who spent three weeks in jail is not guilty of blasphemy and a cleric who allegedly framed her should face trial instead.

Investigating officer Munir Jafri said police could not find any evidence against Rimsha Masih, thought to be 14, who was accused in August of burning pages from the Koran in a case which sparked an international outcry.

"We have also told the court that there are witnesses and evidence against the local imam for framing a false blasphemy case against Rimsha," Mr Jafri said.



http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-23/p ... nt/4275816

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Quote:
Rao Abdur Rahim, the counsel for Rimsha's neighbour Hammad Malik who had accused her along with (Imam Hafiz Mohammed Khalid) Chishti, said he was not satisfied with the police report.

"This report is based on the bad intentions of the investigators and is made to prove Rimsha innocent. But, I will fight the case and make her face trial," he told AFP.


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PostPosted: 20 Nov 2012 16:39 
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A court in Pakistan has dropped a blasphemy case against a young Christian girl who was accused of burning pages from the Koran.

Rimsha Masih was arrested in August when she was reportedly caught holding a bag of rubbish with burnt pages in it...

She was released on bail in September and police have since told the courts she was not guilty and that a cleric who allegedly framed her should face trial instead.

A court in Islamabad has now thrown out all of the charges.



http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-20/p ... my/4382724

But

Quote:
The prosecution said it would appeal the decision.


Quote:
The cleric who gave police burned papers as evidence against her was detained on September 1 for himself allegedly desecrating the Koran and tampering with evidence.

He was also granted bail last month.



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