Pakistan - Christian couple burned alive: Widespread condemnation, 40 arrested

“The burning alive of a Christian couple is a test case for our government. Our government must provide protection to all citizens and especially to the poor and downtrodden Christians,” Fr. James Channan, O.P., a Dominican, Director of the "Peace Center" in Lahore, research center engaged in interreligious dialogue, told CNA Nov. 4 in an email interview. "We are shocked and worried. Christians in Pakistan are now wondering: what country do we live in? The horrible and barbaric execution of a Christian couple, accused of blasphemy, is an act that offends justice, human rights, human dignity, civilization, and is contrary to the rule of law. Today (Wednesday) we will demonstrate for justice and human rights in Lahore. On the blasphemy law, we call for the UN to intervene": said Fr. James Channan, in an interview with Agenzia Fides, commenting on the incident.

That morning, Shahzad Masih and his wife Shama, a Christian couple, were allegedly killed and their bodies burned by a mob after they were accused of desecrating the Quran. The couple lived in Kot Radha Kishan, a city located nearly 40 miles southwest of Lahore. Shama was pregnant, and the couple had three additional children. They were reported to be in their 20s or 30s.

Fr. Channan said he is “under a deep shock and disbelief” because of the incident. “I demand from the government and law enforcing agencies of Pakistan that justice must be done and culprits must be punished.”

CNN has reported that Pakistani police on Thursday said they have arrested up to 40 people in connection with the incident. Local police officials said a mob from neighboring villages formed Tuesday after a local mullah declared the couple were guilty of blasphemy. The mob allegedly marched to the couple's home, broke down their door, dragged them outside, beat them and threw them into the brick kiln where they both worked.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), which dispatched a team to the scene, said in a statement that the couple had three young children -- two sons and a daughter, and indicated the slain woman was pregnant. "HRCP is shocked and saddened beyond words by the callous murder of the couple and their unborn child," the group said. According to the statement, the HRCP team "did not come across any evidence of desecration of the Holy Quran."

The HRCP said its team learned that four policemen went to the kiln to demand that the couple be handed over for protection from the mob, but that the owners "instructed their employees not to hand the couple over and the policemen were also beaten up." The kiln's owners were among those arrested, the rights group said, quoting police.

"I am convinced that the married couple did not commit blasphemy. And even if the accusation were verified, there are procedures to be followed. We cannot allow lynching or a mass execution to be carried out by those who believe they are above the law. This is a strong request to the government", notes Fr. Channan. In fact, "for incidents of violence which occurred in the past (in Gojra, in Shantinagar and other places) none of the guilty were punished. Impunity fuels violence. We ask the Special Commission created by the Government of Punjab to submit a report immediately and to punish those involved in this barbaric act", adds the priest.

To express their outrage and to demand justice and respect for the law, Wednesday many Christian organizations and civil society groups that defend human rights, along with Muslim citizens, gathered in the street in Lahore. The Dominican concluded: "We will ask the UN to intervene. Careful and neutral analysis is needed with regards to the blasphemy law, its exploitation and its consequences. We call for a special UN commission to come to Pakistan. If this law is not stopped and corrected, there will be more accidents and tragedies like this".

Legal Evangelical Association Development, a Pakistani minority rights group, was told by Muhammad Rafique, one of the Masihs' coworkers, that following the recent death of Shahzad's father, Shama collected some of his things, burning them and throwing the ashes in the garbage.

According to Rafique, their employer noticed this, and charged that some of the burnt pages were from the Quran; he then detained them. They owed him money, and he refused to release them without being paid.

It was then announced from local mosques that the couple had desecrated the Quran, and a mob forced their way into the room where the Masihs were held, beat them, and then burnt them alive in the kiln's furnace. Pakistan Today was told by one of the Masih's relatives that “a Muslim mob of about 3,000-4,000 people attacked the couple’s quarters at the brick kiln and tortured the couple to death. They later threw their bodies into the kiln and completely burnt them.”

"The Pakistani government has failed in protecting the right to life of its citizens". This was reported in a statement from the "Justice and Peace" Commission of the Catholic Bishops of Pakistan (NCJP), sent to Agenzia Fides. The note, signed by the President of the Commission, Fr. Emmanuel Yousaf, and by the Secretary, Cecil Shane Chaudhry, "condemns the brutal killing of the Christian couple Shahzad and Shama Masih", burned alive in the district of Kasur, emphasizing "the growing intolerance against religious minorities" and the duty of the government to stop it.

The statement calls for "serious and effective measures to control the violence carried out in the name of religion". "We call on the provincial governments and the federal government to take due account of this incident and to review their position on the law of blasphemy", says the statement.

The Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) has also called for "an impartial investigation on what happened in Kot Radha Kishan in Kasur district: this was reported in an official statement of the Islamic religious leaders, sent to Agenzia Fides. In the note, Muhammad Tahir Ashrafi, President of the PUC, condemned the violence and expressed "deep sorrow for the incident", and says that "it would not have happened if the local police had not shown negligence". If the couple were really guilty, asks the PUC, "why did the police not arrest them, after complaints from local residents? Or, if they were not guilty, why were they not given immediate protection, in view of the people’s reaction?"

In order to "identify the real factors behind this event", says the text sent to Fides, "it is important to carry out an impartial investigation to find out the real reasons". The PUC has set up a special committee, composed of scholars from all denominations and schools of Islamic thought, that aims at contributing to "bringing the facts to light".

Meanwhile the Amnesty International in a note sent to Agenzia Fides says "The Pakistani authorities must bring to justice those responsible for the killing of the Christian couple accused of blasphemy".

"This murder is just the latest manifestation of violence that anyone can suffer in Pakistan after an accusation of blasphemy, even though religious minorities are disproportionately vulnerable. Those responsible must be brought to justice and the Pakistani authorities must provide necessary protection to all communities", remarked David Griffiths, Deputy Director of Asia-Pacific of Amnesty International. "This type of violence - he continues - is fuelled by the repressive blasphemy laws in Pakistan, in addition to the climate of fear for religious minorities. A mere accusation of blasphemy is often enough to put a person or an entire community in danger. In this case, the crowd seems to have acted as judge, jury and executioner".

According to Amnesty, "the blasphemy laws violate the norms of international law and human rights and must be reformed urgently, providing an effective safeguard against their abuse, up to a possible abrogation. The lack of coherence on behalf of the government in dealing with the violence carried out in the name of religion sends the message that one can commit outrageous abuses, justifying them as a defense of religious sentiments"

The BBC was told by a security official that police had tried to save the Masihs, “but they were outnumbered and attacked by the angry crowd.” A local policeman, Jawad Qamar, told Pakistan Today that 48 had been arrested in connection with the murders, and that further efforts are being made.

Pakistan Today also wrote that “Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has constituted a three-member committee to fast track the investigation of the killings and ordered police to beef up security at Christian neighbourhoods in the province.”

Pakistan's state religion is Islam, and around 97 percent of the population is Muslim. The nation has adopted blasphemy laws which impose strict punishment on those who desecrate the Quran or who defame or insult Muhammad. The blasphemy laws are said to be often used to settle scores or to persecute minorities.

“It is worse when fanatics take these laws in their hands and beat or kill on simple accusations,” Fr. Channan said. “It has become a tool to persecute Christians and other minorities. Very often police does not provide protection to the accused due to the angry mob.” Fr. Channan added that the blasphemy laws have “made Christians vulnerable and insecure.”

Currently, he reported, there are some 1,100 cases registered under these laws, with around 950 of the accused either Muslim or Ahmadiyya, a heterodox Muslim movement. “Around 135 are Christians,” he said, and the remainder is Hindu. Members of minority religions, therefore, are disproportionately affected by the blasphemy laws. While non-Muslims constitute only 3 percent of the Pakistani population, 14 percent of blasphemy cases have been levied against them.

“The misuse of these laws is very common,” Fr. Channan said. “Once a person is accused he or she cannot live in Pakistan, even if the court will set that person free. Therefore it is very important for the government of Pakistan to prevent the misuse these laws and punish those who falsely accuse.”

The priest said there is “a grave need to educate people to live in harmony, respect and not to take such laws in their own hands. Let the courts decide such cases without any pressure.”

Last month, the Lahore High Court rejected the appeal of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman, who has been sentenced to death under the blasphemy laws. According to the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement, some 25 mullahs were present at the court “to apply pressure and push for the sentence … to be upheld.” And in May, a lawyer defending a professor accused of blasphemy was shot dead in Multan.

In 2012, a teenaged Christian girl, Rimsha Masih, who has Down syndrome, was arrested under the blasphemy laws, and released on bail. She and her family had to be relocated because of threats against them. And in 2011, two politicians – Salmaan Taseer, a Muslim, and Shahbaz Bhatti, a Catholic – were assassinated for opposing the blasphemy laws.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's 2013 report cited “chronic” sectarian and religiously motivated violence in the country, as well as the Pakistan government perpetrating and tolerating “systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief.”

Fr. Channan said that “I will be going to visit (Kot Radha Kishan) tomorrow (Wednesday) and will express solidarity with the grieving family and raise voice for speedy trial of those responsible for this barbaric act of murder.”

(Source: BBC, CNN, CNA, Fides)