Saturday, February 4, 2006

MUSLIM MEN, WOMEN ATTACK CHURCH IN PAKISTAN

http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s06020018.htm

By Sheraz Khurram Khan
Special to ASSIST News Service
 

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Muslim men and women attacked yet another church in Pakistan in village Kanwanlit, some 3 kilometers from Daska, a sub district of Sailkot, at 10:00 am on Friday, February 3.

Some of the attackers smashed doors, window and the altar of the church. They also desecrated the Bible and hymn books in the church. The mob reportedly spat on the Bible and hymn books after trampling them upon their feet.

When local Christian residents of the area tried to stop them from desecrating the church the attackers asked accompanying Muslim women “to teach them a lesson”. A scuffled started between Christian and Muslim women. The armed Muslim men kept Christian men at gun point, foiling their effort to come to the rescue of the Christian women.

The Muslim women inflicted torture on the Christian women. Two Christian women, Verro and Salima, sustained critical injuries. Verro’s two legs were broken by the Muslim women. The village falls in the control of Daska Saddar Police Station but the police only appeared at the scene of incident after Muslim residents of the village were done with the job of ransacking, and desecrating the church.

Earlier, on November 13, churches in Sangla Hill, a tehsil (administrative division) of Nankana Sahib, were attacked. The recent incident highlights the precarious situation Pakistani Christians are faced with. More attacks on Churches in Pakistan are feared following printing and reprinting of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad by European newspapers.