New tensions between military & civilian government will escalate the conflict.
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those (martyrs) who had
been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. (Revelation 6:9)
been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. (Revelation 6:9)
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| Pakistan: Public rally by Muslims against Christianity |
I am currently involved with a project to rescue a Christian family in hiding in Pakistan, and bring them safely to the United States.
While the specific details are being withheld until their safe arrival here in the US, I feel compelled to share information on the situation that has led me to this mission.
Why Pakistan? This country is almost 8,000 miles away from any US coastline. Their current government is openly hostile to Western values, and they are known to aid and abet terrorism against us. I have no cultural ties to those I am trying to help.
Why Pakistan? Because Christians are in trouble, and God tells me I cannot sit idly by and let this happen. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)
The seemingly unchecked growth of religious extremism in Pakistan has led to heinous acts of violence being committed among the minority Christian population there. Of the 1,060 people charged under that nation's predominantly Muslim blasphemy laws from 1986 to 2011, 46 have been killed either by angry mobs or by individuals. The Christian community has had their churches and homes attacked in recent years.
While the specific details are being withheld until their safe arrival here in the US, I feel compelled to share information on the situation that has led me to this mission.
Why Pakistan? This country is almost 8,000 miles away from any US coastline. Their current government is openly hostile to Western values, and they are known to aid and abet terrorism against us. I have no cultural ties to those I am trying to help.
Why Pakistan? Because Christians are in trouble, and God tells me I cannot sit idly by and let this happen. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)
The seemingly unchecked growth of religious extremism in Pakistan has led to heinous acts of violence being committed among the minority Christian population there. Of the 1,060 people charged under that nation's predominantly Muslim blasphemy laws from 1986 to 2011, 46 have been killed either by angry mobs or by individuals. The Christian community has had their churches and homes attacked in recent years.
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| Burning of Christian churches has become commonplace. |
In 2005, 3,000 militants staged a similar attack, destroying churches in Sangla Hill as reprisal for the blasphemy allegedly committed by a Pakistan Christian. In 2006, militants targeted churches and Christian-run schools in protest over the publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.
Eight Christians were burned alive 2009, in Gojra in Punjab in 2009 after a frenzied Muslim mob set ablaze 40 homes and a church while the police stood aside.
One-third of Pakistan's population was composed of religious minorities at the time of its independence in 1947. According to According to Peter Jacob, head of the National Commission for Peace and Justice, the white in the national flag represented that 30 percent which included Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis and Christians.
However, that minority has shrunk and now constitutes only 3.5 percent of Pakistan's 175 million people. Christians comprise about 1.6 percent, with the largest concentration across Punjab province. "The country lost its religious diversity," Jacob says.
In the early 70s, the Pakistan People's Party's first government headed by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto nationalized schools and colleges, and imposed Muslim beliefs and practices. The levels of religious tolerance have declined steadily from that point forward.
Eight Christians were burned alive 2009, in Gojra in Punjab in 2009 after a frenzied Muslim mob set ablaze 40 homes and a church while the police stood aside.
One-third of Pakistan's population was composed of religious minorities at the time of its independence in 1947. According to According to Peter Jacob, head of the National Commission for Peace and Justice, the white in the national flag represented that 30 percent which included Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis and Christians.
However, that minority has shrunk and now constitutes only 3.5 percent of Pakistan's 175 million people. Christians comprise about 1.6 percent, with the largest concentration across Punjab province. "The country lost its religious diversity," Jacob says.
In the early 70s, the Pakistan People's Party's first government headed by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto nationalized schools and colleges, and imposed Muslim beliefs and practices. The levels of religious tolerance have declined steadily from that point forward.
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| The Islamic Republic of Pakistn |
According to Asia News, the most recent episode involves a young man killed by his Muslim employers, who were reported to police, after public outcry, after the police dallied, reluctant to take up the case.
Imran Masih, 24, a resident of Ghakkar Mandi Gujranwala, was killed by employers, who say he committed suicide. Imran Masih, married for eight months, worked as a driver for two Muslims, Bashir Ahmed Cheema and Munir Ahmed Cheema. Imran's father, Lal, had held the job before but because of age he passed to his son.
On February 5, Imran was unable to go to work because he felt sick. The next day he went to work. It seems there was a verbal confrontation with Munir Ahmed Cheema. And immediately after Imran was attacked and killed. Munir Cheema sought the help of some friends, and Imran's body was hung from the ceiling, and his father, Lal, was told his son had killed himself.
Lal Masih received her son's body, covered in blood, and with clear signs of torture. Lal Masih told AsiaNews: "My son was killed by these animals. Cheema and his son used to insult me every day, they said that we Christians were their slaves. They have abused my son, he responded and then they killed him. There are signs of torture on the body."
Lal Masih went to the police to complain, but the assistant sub-inspector (ASI), Zubair Cheema, refused to accept the "Fir" (First Information Report) due to Bashir Ahmed Cheema's influence in the area. The neighbors, however, had heard noises and voices of people who insulted Imran, and then attacked him.
So what do we know about Pakistan -- a country we provide $2 billion dollars per year in "military aid" -- and what leads me to believe this situation for Christians will only get worse?
Imran Masih, 24, a resident of Ghakkar Mandi Gujranwala, was killed by employers, who say he committed suicide. Imran Masih, married for eight months, worked as a driver for two Muslims, Bashir Ahmed Cheema and Munir Ahmed Cheema. Imran's father, Lal, had held the job before but because of age he passed to his son.
On February 5, Imran was unable to go to work because he felt sick. The next day he went to work. It seems there was a verbal confrontation with Munir Ahmed Cheema. And immediately after Imran was attacked and killed. Munir Cheema sought the help of some friends, and Imran's body was hung from the ceiling, and his father, Lal, was told his son had killed himself.
Lal Masih received her son's body, covered in blood, and with clear signs of torture. Lal Masih told AsiaNews: "My son was killed by these animals. Cheema and his son used to insult me every day, they said that we Christians were their slaves. They have abused my son, he responded and then they killed him. There are signs of torture on the body."
Lal Masih went to the police to complain, but the assistant sub-inspector (ASI), Zubair Cheema, refused to accept the "Fir" (First Information Report) due to Bashir Ahmed Cheema's influence in the area. The neighbors, however, had heard noises and voices of people who insulted Imran, and then attacked him.
So what do we know about Pakistan -- a country we provide $2 billion dollars per year in "military aid" -- and what leads me to believe this situation for Christians will only get worse?
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| My other photos are too graphic to post. |
With a population exceeding 170 million people, it is the sixth most populous country in the world and has the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia.
Pakistan has the eighth largest standing army internationally and is a recognized nuclear weapons state, being the first and only nation to have that status in the Muslim world.
Terrorism in Pakistan has become a major and highly destructive phenomenon in recent years. The annual death toll from terrorist attacks has risen from 164 in 2003 to 3318 in 2009, with a total of 35,000 Pakistanis killed as of 2010.
To top it off, they really don't like the West. The following text was taken from a news article appearing in the PakTribune, the Pakistani News Service, after the recent drone incident on their border in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed for firing on US troops.
"Of all the counter measures taken by Pakistan to safeguard its integrity, closure of supply routes, countering any future offensive act including drones with full force and formulation of new rules of engagement are pinching the US the most. Although ISAF is managing its logistics needs by using northern routes and air route, prohibitive costs will make this arrangement unworkable. Closure of Shamsi airbase has rendered drone war of CIA difficult. A month has lapsed and no drone attack has occurred. Pakistan's principled defiance will ultimately compel the US to treat it with respect."
So, why Pakistan? That's why.
Pakistan has the eighth largest standing army internationally and is a recognized nuclear weapons state, being the first and only nation to have that status in the Muslim world.
Terrorism in Pakistan has become a major and highly destructive phenomenon in recent years. The annual death toll from terrorist attacks has risen from 164 in 2003 to 3318 in 2009, with a total of 35,000 Pakistanis killed as of 2010.
To top it off, they really don't like the West. The following text was taken from a news article appearing in the PakTribune, the Pakistani News Service, after the recent drone incident on their border in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed for firing on US troops.
"Of all the counter measures taken by Pakistan to safeguard its integrity, closure of supply routes, countering any future offensive act including drones with full force and formulation of new rules of engagement are pinching the US the most. Although ISAF is managing its logistics needs by using northern routes and air route, prohibitive costs will make this arrangement unworkable. Closure of Shamsi airbase has rendered drone war of CIA difficult. A month has lapsed and no drone attack has occurred. Pakistan's principled defiance will ultimately compel the US to treat it with respect."
So, why Pakistan? That's why.
