Demonstrations against pastor, church set on fire in Pakistan
(September 11, 2010) Reactions in the Muslim world to ‘Burn-the-Qur‘an’ Day promoted
by a US clergyman have included setting fire to one church and attacking others in
Pakistan, demonstrations organised by Islamic groups with thousands of people in the
streets of Indonesia and Afghanistan, and one death reported in the latter, this despite
the fact that Rev Terry Jones, after considerable equivocation, said finally that
he would not go through with his initiative. Reports from Pakistan say that Muslim
extremists have attacked three churches in Narowal District, setting one on fire in
Saidpur village. Extremist groups have also announced that they would burn all Christian
churches in the country if Jones burnt the Qur‘an. Pakistan’s Christian community
is under tremendous pressure, even though as soon as news about the Florida clergyman’s
plans became public knowledge, Churches and Christian organisations firmly condemned
the initiative. Mgr Alexander John Malik, bishop of Lahore, said that Terry Jones
was “insane”, adding that he was getting a lot of cheap popularity for such an evil
act. Protests have erupted around the Muslim world. One person died in Afghanistan
when a crowd gathered in front of a NATO base to protest. At least five Afghan provinces
have seen similar protests. In northern Kabul, hundreds of demonstrators gathered,
whilst another 2,000 marched on a government building in Farah. Similar occurrences
have been reported in Badghis, Ghor and Herat.