Christian students in Pakistan are victims of violence and discrimination

(July 12, 2010) Students of Pakistan's religious minorities, including Christians, are victims of exclusion, discrimination and acts of violence because of their faith and their status. The complaint comes from Minorities Concern of Pakistan (MCP) which says that most of the violations take place in government run institutions and is committed by both classmates and by teachers. The system to protect minorities, they add, is "fragile" and fails to safeguard their rights. On Thursday the Pakistan Minorities Teachers' Association (PMTA) sent a letter to Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, head of the judiciary, inviting him to take a "personal initiative" against the Federal Minister for Education. He is accused of having "violated the rights of students from minorities, including Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and Ahmadis. MCP activists cite two cases of discrimination against Christian students, confirming the climate of intolerance. On May 28, pastor Mubarak Masih and his family were assaulted in Smundri, Punjab, after the pastor’s 13 year old nephew Shaid Masih refused to read verses from the Qur’an despite pressure from his teacher. Last year eleven year old Christian Nadia Iftikhar suffered violent beatings at the hands of her teacher in a school Dharema, also in Punjab, after the student claimed to be both "Christian and Pakistani”.