(Vatican Radio) The situation in Pakistan remains extremely tense following the weekend
arrest of a leading Imam, on suspicion of planting incriminating evidence on the person
of a young Christian girl being held on suspicion of having violated Pakistan’s controversial
blasphemy law. The girl, Rimsha Masih, is roughly fourteen years of age and believed
to have learning difficulties. She remains in custody on the blasphemy charges, which
stem from the discovery on her person of burnt portions of pages from the Qur’an –
portions that it now appears may have been planted by Imam Khalid Chishti, whom prosecutors
say will himself face charges of blasphemy.
Professor Mobeen Shalid teaches
Islamic thought and culture at Rome’s Pontifical Lateran University. He is also the
founder of Pakistani Christians in Italy - an organization desired by the slain Pakistani
Christian government minister, Shabbaz Bhatti, as an instrument of communication and
communion between the hard-pressed Christian communities in his country and the heart
of the Church in Rome. He told Vatican Radio that powerful interests are using the
blasphemy laws to stir up unrest that will scare Christians away from their homes
and out of their livelihoods. “Many businessmen who deal with estate business – property,
or the sale of land,” he said, “want to have those [Christian-occupied] slums, which
today have a value of millions of Euro.” He went on to explain, “There are some Muslims
who are helping these businessmen, so that Christians are sent away from that area
and that land can be taken by these businessmen, [who], obviously, later on will sell
that land.” Many Christian families have already fled Rimsha’s neighbourhood.
Rimsha's
parents have been taken into protective custody following threats. Listen: