The Hindus facing eviction by Pakistan's army

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By Amber ShamsiBBC News, Rawalpindi

A poor Hindu community is facing eviction from an area in Pakistan's garrison city of Rawalpindi where its members have lived for more than 80 years.

The Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), an engineering branch of the army, plans to build a barracks and educational complex by demolishing the main Hindu temple that serves the minority community and 53 slum dwellings.

With the help of a minority member of parliament, Isphanyar Bhandara, the community has been able to win a temporary stay on the eviction - the army has offered resettlement.

However, the community is reluctant to leave the well-guarded Gracy Lines area, given the threats to minorities in Pakistan, and because of an association that goes back generations.

The BBC tried to get in touch with the Pakistan army's media wing for comment but calls were not returned.

Allah Ditta, 85, is a retired government worker who says his father and forefather were buried in Gracy Lines. With him is his mother, Sharfo Bibi, who is estimated to be about 100. Allah Ditta says his mother became senile after his father's death in the 1971 war between India and Pakistan.

In her broken speech, she told me: "I have washed dishes for the army, cleaned up after them, worked for them, why do they want to kick us out?"

There are 52 Hindu families living in small homes at Gracy Lines. They live among Muslims who converted after partition, and Christians. The area is surrounded by shiny new buildings built by the army's Frontier Works Organisation.

Leaders of the community say that they could have left for India in 1947 but chose to remain here and served Pakistan by fighting in the wars with India in 1971 and 1965. They showed me a copy of the lease in perpetuity for the temple which was given to the Hindu community and which can be extended after 100 years.

Shakuntala, 60, came to the settlement 40 years ago from Abbottabad when she got married. She says: "My in-laws have been living in Gracy Lines while the British were here. I used to travel to the Hindu temple by scooter. We don't earn enough money to pay rents - where will we go?" The community says the average income is 8,000-10,000 Pakistani rupees ($78-$98) a month.

Ashok Chand is the father of three children with learning difficulties. He says: "We are being mentally tortured by certain officers. To put pressure on us, sometimes they cut off our water, or threaten to cut off electricity. We don't want to get in the way of the army, because the army has protected us for so many years."

Pandit Mir Chand Khokhar of the Maharishi Valmik Swamiji temple is standing next to the portion of the building that remained intact after it was set on fire in 1992 in retaliation for the demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque in India.

The government of Pakistan helped rebuild the temple - its foundation was laid in 1935 and it serves as the main temple of Hindus living in Rawalpindi.

Khurrum Shehzad is a Christian whose family converted from Hinduism. "The founder of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah promised safety and security to minority communities in Pakistan, and a portion of the Pakistani flag is white representing us, the minorities. We want to continue to live here, near the temple, which serves as a focal point for the community."

Farzana Ashraf, 40, is a Muslim who says that if the settlement is demolished, their community's way of life will end.

"We all attend each other's religious festivals - Eid, Diwali and Christmas. The Hindus come with us to our shrines and we come to their temple. Even if we are given a place elsewhere, this model of harmony will be broken."

Gunmen target minority sect in Pakistan

At least six people from the Zikri community shot dead at a shrine in Awaran district in the south of the country.

Aljazeera 

29 August 2014

Gunmen have opened fire on worshippers at a shrine in southwest Pakistan, killing at least six members of a minority Islamic sect and wounding seven others, officials have said.

The attack came at a shrine of the Zikri community in Awaran district, about 650km southwest of Quetta, the capital of restive Baluchistan province.

Oil and natural gas-rich Baluchistan is wracked by separatist fighters and sectarian violence.

"Three gunmen came on two motorbikes and fired at the worshippers, praying at sunset," Akbar Harifal, the senior administration official in the area, told the AFP news agency.

"At least six people have been killed and seven others are injured … The gunmen escaped after the attack."

Akbar Hussain Durrani, provincial home secretary, also confirmed the attack.

Zikris are relatively a new sect of Muslims in Pakistan who worship in groups at shrines and on mountains in remote, sparsely populated Baluchistan.

No group has claimed the attack but graffiti warning Zikris and Hindus to embrace mainstream Islam or face being killed appeared on walls in the province last week.

Baluchistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, is Pakistan's largest province but also its poorest and least developed.

Ethnic Baluch rebels have long waged a low-level fight with the government, seeking either full independence or a greater share of the province's mineral wealth.

The province has also been the scene of numerous violent attacks on Shia Muslims.

انسانی حقوق

بشکریہ

Seminar arranged by Chenab Civil Society Network Gujranwala

Pakistan: Equal citizens?

Source/Credit: The News
By Imtiaz Gul | August 25, 2014

In recent months Pakistan has witnessed an unusual surge in violence against religious minorities who have faced violence across the country. Not only have Pakistani Christians, Ahmadis, Sikhs, and Hindus suffered at the hands of unknown extremist groups but the Shia community, too, has borne the brunt of extremism and intolerance.

Recent cases include the killing of two Hindu brothers in Umerkot, Sindh on August 6, 2014. On the same day a young Sikh trader, who had fled fighting in Fata, was gunned down in Peshawar. Earlier on July 26, 2014, an Ahmadi man was poisoned and shot dead in Gojra in Toba Tek Singh near Lahore, while a few days before that, another Ahmadi was murdered in Nawabshah. In yet another brazen attack on a minority community, two Ahmadi girls, one woman and an unborn baby were burned on July 27 in Gujranwala, Punjab – and the list keeps getting longer.

Strangely, the July 27 incident in Gujranwala targeting Ahmadis drew no reaction from Shahbaz Sharif, the Punjab chief minister.

The exponential rise in the persecution of religious minorities calls into question Article 25 of the federal constitution which holds all citizens equal before the law and entitles them the right to equal citizenry.

The surge in violence against and the increasing discrimination of minorities also reminds us of a speech that the Quaid-e-Azam gave at the Strachey Hall of the Aligarh University on February 5, 1938.

“What the Muslim League has done is to set you free from the reactionary elements of Muslims and to create the opinion that those who play their selfish games are traitors. It has certainly freed you from that undesirable element of maulvis and maulanas (as well as (the clutches of the British government, the Congress, the reactionaries and so-called Muslims).”

Although Pakistan has been observing August 11 as a national ‘Minorities Day’ since 2011, these celebrations do not reflect what happens to most religious minorities, away from the glittering political power houses in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.

Ironically, the current alarming incidence of violence against religious minorities also reminds one of the famous speech by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of the nation, in which he promised the freedom of worship and equality without discrimination to religious minorities residing in Pakistan. His words were: “You are free; free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the state.”

All minorities feel that the state has not only failed to protect them but continues to tolerate and condone faith-based violence in the country – mostly hiding behind political expedience. The reluctance of CM Shahbaz Sharif in condemning the recent killings or the silence of most politicians over the murder of former governor of the Punjab province in January 2011, also testifies the usual mainstream political disinclination to condemn attacks on minorities.

Ashok Chand, vice chairman of the All Pakistan Hindu Rights Movement (APHRM), says that in addition to the afore-mentioned threats, religious minorities also continue to be restricted from performing their religious duties. Hindu minorities’ representatives claim that their women are easy targets for rape, conversions and forced marriages. Moreover, any accusation of blasphemy, which is punishable by death, is easy to drive a Hindu or a member of any other religious minority away from home.

The alarming increase in the number of horrific attacks against minorities in Pakistan raises concerns abroad too; Pakistan being a party to various UN treaties including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) it ratified in 2010, is obliged under the Article 27 of ICCPR to ensure the freedom to ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities living in Pakistan to profess and practice their religion, use their language and enjoy their culture.

More importantly, Articles 20, 21 and 22 of the Pakistani constitution also guarantee every citizen the freedom to profess, practice and propagate religion and to manage religious institutions. Despite these constitutional guarantees, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) notes that the religious freedom environment for Christians, Shias, Sikhs, Ahmadis and Hindus has severely deteriorated over the last 18 months. The Minority Rights Group International has, for example, ranked Pakistan as the world’s top country in terms of religious persecution.

The writer is the executive director of the Centre for Research and Security Studies.

Email: imtgul@gmail.com


Read original post here: Equal citizens?

Islamic State Executes Female Dentist for Treating Men

Source/Credit: Almasdar News
By Almasdar News | August 19, 2014

Dr. Rou’aa Diab was a dentist in the Deir ez-Zor Governate city of Al-Mayadeen, located on the border of Iraq.  Two days ago, she arrested by the Islamic State, along with 4 others, and summarily executed. The reasoning pronounced for the execution was under the crime of “treating male patients” – a crime she was not tried for in a court room.

Dr. Diab’s death has sparked anger in the historical city of Al-Mayadeen, an area where the Islamic State continues to assert its governance over.

Dr. Diab is one of the many civilians executed by the Islamic State over the last 7 days. Syrian Government sources claim 700 civilians from a tribe in Deir ez-Zor were executed last week.

Violence between tribal factions in Deir ez-Zor and the Islamic State has escalated over the last two weeks, despite good relations prior to their armed conflict.

Read original post here: Islamic State Executes Female Dentist for Treating Men

Pakistan: Islamic Extremists Use Rape as an 'Instrument Of Power' over Christian Female

Source/Credit: Gospel Herald
By Leah Marieann Klett | August 22, 2014

The Christian community of Lahore is outraged following the rape of a 12-year-old Christian girl who was kidnapped by a Muslim gang and repeatedly assaulted.

Muqadas Masih and her older sister Asma were returning home from work when Muqadas was kidnapped by two Muslim men and three women. They took her inside a school and the two men, identified as Ashraf Alias Achi and Ghaffor Alias Paida raped her repeatedly in turn. When they had finished, they abandoned the young girl.

Although Muquadas' family filed a complaint with local police, they have received threats from Muslim extremists if they do not withdraw the complaint.

Christian advocates have said Muslims often use sexual violence as a means of controlling the Christian population, especially women and girls.

"In Pakistan rape is used as an instrument of arbitrary power over Christian girls, who come from poor and marginalized families. It is a form of violence that wants to reiterate the submission to Muslims. The rest of society is not outraged because the victims mostly belong to religious minorities, who are the most vulnerable," explains Christian lawyer Sardar Mushtaq Gill, who heads LEAD (Legal Evangelical Association Development)

"Rarely rapists are punished."

But almost more horrifying is the lack of care appropriate care given to girls following such assaults. 

"Rape victims face terrible difficulties; they do not receive adequate medical treatment for sexual assault. Many girls are traumatized and become depressed and in need of psychological assistance," continued Gill.

Religious minorities face extreme persecution in Pakistan. According to the persecution watchdog group Open Doors, Christians in particular "are caught in the crossfire between Islamic militant organizations that routinely target Christians, and an Islamizing culture that leaves Christians isolated from the rest of the population."

In addition, Pakistan's blasphemy laws have  "devastating consequences for minorities, including Christians" and that Islamic extremism and organized corruption are two of the main sources of persecution.

"Women and girls from minority groups are particularly vulnerable, and sexual assaults against underage Christian girls by Muslim men continue to be reported," the group continued.

LEAD and other Christian organizations continue to fight for the rights of religious minorities within the country-an endeavor that often seems hopeless.

"We often get discouraged, as human rights abuses happen every minute of every day in Pakistan," explained one Open Doors aid worker.

"But if we can help even one persecuted citizen, it's a worthwhile endeavor. Only prayer is powerful enough to fight the monstrous abuses occurring within the country. "

"We will do everything so that this violence does not go unpunished," added Gill.





Read original post here: Pakistan: Islamic Extremists Use Rape as an 'Instrument Of Power' over Christian Female

There is acquiescence in violence in our society.

شہریوں کے حقوق متاثر نہیں ہونے چاہئیں۔ سپریم کورٹ

Sri Lanka / Pakistan: Inhumane and illegal deportation of asylum seekers should be stopped

Source/Credit: Asian Human Rights Commission
By AHRC Statement | August 22, 2014

A Statement from the civil society in Sri Lanka forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission 

 As Sri Lankan citizens and Sri Lankan civil society organizations, we are appalled by the recent arrests and deportation of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka. According to the UN, 108 Pakistanis have been deported as of 14th August[i] . According to the UNHCR, this included at least 11 women and 8 children and families have been separated, including a pregnant woman that had been left behind after the husband was deported[ii].

These deportations are in breach of customary international law which requires all countries to abide by the principle of “non-refoulement (no forced returns) to countries where people face imminent risks. It violates article 3 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which the Sri Lankan government has ratified. UNHCR has noted that Ahmadiyya Muslims, Shia Muslims and Christians in Pakistan may need international protection and require particularly careful examination of their asylum claims.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)’s claim that the increase in number of asylum seekers is due to people falling victim due to commercially driven human trafficking networks which abuse liberal visa policy of Sri Lanka[iii] is not substantiated. The only way to find out who is genuinely fleeing persecution is a comprehensive case by case assessment by the nationally and internationally recognized agency for this, UNHCR, and not any Sri Lankan government agency. All asylum seekers have a right to this due process, under international customary law and what deportations have done is to deny asylum seekers this opportunity. Although the MEA has claimed that asylum seekers have been “encouraged to return”, in practice, they have been forcibly been deported, as confirmed by UNHCR.

UNHCR has also said that some of the latest deportees had their passports and asylum-seeker certificates seized last week, told to go to Colombo airport, where they were placed on flights to Pakistan against their will.

According to UNHCR, there are 157 asylum seekers (84 Pakistanis, 71 Afghans and 2 Iranians) detained as of 12th August[iv]. They face imminent deportation. The Lawyers Collective in Sri Lanka has noted that the laws under which the arrests and detention has happened is not clear, that victims and their families have not been informed clear and specific reasons for arrests, that no arrest receipts have been provided, that arrestees have not been produced before a competent court[v]. They have also noted that access to lawyers have been denied and that indications are that they are arrested under the Preventive of Terrorism Act, as arrestees are being detained at Boosa detention facility run by the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID). According to lawyers, if they have been arrested under the Immigration laws, they should have been detained in the Immigration Detention facility in Mirihana.

Some of us have also heard that some asylum seekers have been subjected to torture, cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, which would be a violation of article 11 of the Sri Lankan constitution. The lack of due process also appear to be a violation of article 12 (1) of the Sri Lankan constitution. These are rights made available to all people in Sri Lanka, irrespective of their nationality and immigration status.

To the best of our knowledge, the Sri Lankan government doesn’t offer asylum seekers and refugees basic needs like housing or food. Neither does it offer them permanent resettlement. So these asylum seekers / refugees will only be in Sri Lanka temporarily, for a few months or years.

We welcome the interim order of the Court of Appeal on 15th August that has prohibited deportations of all refugees and asylum seekers registered with UNHCR till 29th August when the case will be taken up.

We call on UNHCR to monitor and report on the implementation of the above court order and assist the courts when the case is taken up in any way possible, such as through expert input. We also call on UNHCR to take a more proactive role in responding to this crisis situation, such as by opening up 24 hour emergency hotlines in Sri Lanka and countries where asylum seekers have been deported, monitoring the situation of those who have been deported, initiating a fast track process to expedite the processing of pending asylum claims and appeals and identifying and engaging with potential countries which may offer fast track resettlement to those recognized as refugees.

We are alarmed to hear that after the court order, Police officers have gone in search of the female Pakistani asylum seeker who had petitioned the Appeal Courts. Police had also visited and questioned several Christian Clergy and employees at Church based institutions who have been supporting asylum seekers. We call on the government to strictly adhere to the interim court order and refrain from intimidating and harassing the petitioner, asylum seekers and those assisting them. We also call on the government make a public commitment to halt deportation and arrests of asylum seekers and adopt policies and practices that will offer them the protection and support that they deserve, in line with our spiritual – religious values and domestic and international legal obligations, including customary law.

We also demand that the government ensures right of due process to all those in detention, particularly access to lawyers and UNHCR to have their asylum claims processed.

Read original post here:  Sri Lanka / Pakistan: Inhumane and illegal deportation of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka should be stopped 

Saudi Arabia: Surge in Executions | 19 Beheaded in 17 Days

Source/Credit: Human Rights Watch
By HRW | August 21, 2014

(Beirut) – Saudi Arabia has executed at least 19 people since August 4, 2014. Local news reports indicate that eight of those executed were convicted of nonviolent offenses, seven for drug smuggling and one for sorcery.

Family members of another man, Hajras bin Saleh al-Qurey, told Human Rights Watch on August 17 that they fear his execution is imminent. The Public Court of Najran, in southern Saudi Arabia, sentenced al-Qurey to death by beheading on January 16, 2013 for allegedly smuggling drugs and attacking a police officer during his arrest.

“Any execution is appalling, but executions for crimes such as drug smuggling or sorcery that result in no loss of life are particularly egregious,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director. “There is simply no excuse for Saudi Arabia’s continued use of the death penalty, especially for these types of crimes.”

According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Saudi government news agency, on August 18, authorities executed four Saudi men in Najran province. A court had previously convicted the men – identified as Hadi al-Mutlaq, Awadh al-Mutlaq, Mufreh al-Yami, and Ali al-Yami – of attempting to smuggle hashish into the country.

Between August 4 and August 14, the press agency and local news outlets reported that authorities beheaded three other men across the country for drug smuggling, including one Saudi, one Syrian, and one Pakistani. Authorities publicly beheaded another Saudi man, Mohammed bin Bakr al-Alawi, on August 5 in al-Jawf Province for allegedly practicing sorcery, according to the Saudi Gazette.

Al-Qurey’s family members told Human Rights Watch that they fear he will face public beheading amid the recent surge of executions. According to his trial judgment, which Human Rights Watch has reviewed, police arrested al-Qurey and his son Mohammed on January 7, 2012, at the al-Khadra border crossing with Yemen, after customs officers tried to stop them on suspicion of drug smuggling. Prosecutors alleged that al-Qurey struck police and civilian vehicles with his car as he sought to flee and violently resisted arrest, including assaulting a police officer with a knife.

According to the trial judgment, al-Qurey’s son confessed to smuggling drugs, but said his father was unaware that drugs were in the car. He also told the court that investigators had placed him in solitary confinement to pressure him to confess. Al-Qurey also claimed investigators abused him in pretrial detention, beating him and insulting him to pressure him to confess to the crime, although he has insisted throughout that he is innocent.

Al-Qurey also claimed in court that he could not recall the details of his arrest because he suffered from a mental disability. The court commissioned a medical examination to determine if al-Qurey could be held criminally responsible for his actions. The examining doctors found that al-Qurey had symptoms of mental illness, including auditory hallucinations, but concluded that he should be held criminally liable, the trial judgment stated. In January 2013, the court sentenced al-Qurey to death and his son to 20 years in prison and 1,000 lashes. A Saudi appeals court and the kingdom’s Supreme Court later upheld al-Qurey’s death sentence, family members said.

International standards require countries that retain the death penalty to use it only for the “most serious crimes,” and in exceptional circumstances. In all cases, those sentenced to death should have the right to seek pardon or commutation of their sentence. In 1996, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions stated explicitly that the death penalty should be eliminated for drug-related offenses.

The Death Penalty Worldwide Database, which collects information on executions across the globe, shows that Saudi Arabia has one of the highest execution rates in the world, and applies the death penalty to a range of offenses that do not constitute “most serious crimes,” including drug offenses, adultery, sorcery, and apostasy. According to media reports, Saudi Arabia has executed at least 34 people in 2014, including the 19 between August 4 and August 20. According to Agence France-Presse, Saudi Arabia executed at least 78 people in 2013.

Human Rights Watch opposes capital punishment in all countries and under all circumstances. Capital punishment is unique in its cruelty and finality, and it is inevitably and universally plagued with arbitrariness, prejudice, and error.

In 2013, following similar resolutions in 2007, 2008, and 2010, the UN General Assembly called on countries to establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, progressively restrict the practice, and reduce the offenses for which it might be imposed, all with the view toward its eventual abolition. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has also called on countries to abolish the death penalty.

“The current surge in executions in Saudi Arabia is yet another dark stain on the kingdom’s human rights record,” Whitson said.


Read original post here: 19 Beheaded in 17 Days; 8 for Nonviolent Offenses

Gaza: Israel 'playing games' as human rights organisations denied access | Amnesty International

 Amnesty International
By Press release | August 20, 2014

Israel should immediately allow access to Gaza for Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other international human rights organisations so they can investigate allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today in a joint statement.

Since the beginning of Israel’s military operation in Gaza, Israeli authorities have denied repeated requests by both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to enter Gaza via the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing. Both groups also requested access from Egyptian authorities, who so far have not granted it.

Since 7 July  Amnesty International has submitted three applications for permission to enter Gaza via the Erez Crossing to Israel’s Civil Administration, which operates under Israel’s Defense Ministry.  In each case, the Civil Administration said it could not process the requests, and that the Erez Crossing was closed. Journalists, UN staff, humanitarian workers, and others with permits have been able to enter and exit via Erez throughout this period.

Anne FitzGerald, Amnesty International’s Director of Research and Crisis Response, said:

“The Israeli authorities appear to have been playing bureaucratic games with us over access to Gaza, conditioning it on entirely unreasonable criteria even as the death toll mounts.

“The victims' and the public's right to know about what happened during the hostilities requires the Israeli authorities to ensure full transparency about their actions and to refrain from hindering independent and impartial research into all alleged violations.

“Valuable time has already been lost and it’s essential that human rights organisations are now able to enter the Gaza Strip to begin the vital job of verifying allegations of war crimes.”

Human Rights Watch received similar responses from the Civil Administration to its request for permission to enter Gaza since the recent escalation in hostilities. Israeli authorities at the Erez Crossing also said that Human Rights Watch was not eligible for permits to enter Gaza because it was not a registered organisation. However, the Israeli authorities acknowledged that they had discretion to make an exception. On 17 August  Human Rights Watch requested such an exception as soon as possible.  Prior to 2006 Israeli authorities repeatedly granted Human Rights Watch access to Gaza without requiring the group to register or seek a special exception.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said:

“If Israel is confident in its claim that Hamas is responsible for civilian deaths in Gaza, why is it blocking human rights organisations from carrying out on-site investigations.

“Talking points by a party to the conflict don’t determine whether attacks violated the laws of war, but field investigations could.”

During the recent hostilities, Israeli forces have intensively bombarded the Gaza Strip from the air, land and sea, severely affecting the civilian population there. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 1,976 Palestinians have been killed, including 1,417 civilians of whom 459 are children and 239 women. Thousands of unexploded remnants of war are dispersed throughout the Gaza Strip.  Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. Sixty-seven Israelis have been killed including three civilians.

Palestinian armed groups have fired thousands of indiscriminate rockets toward Israeli population centres; have reportedly stored rockets in empty school buildings; and allegedly failed to take all feasible precautions to prevent harm to civilians, in violation of international law. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have some staff on the ground in Gaza but they have not been able to verify many reported violations because of the Israeli authorities’ denial of access to researchers.

The Israeli government must allow all allegations of war crimes and other violations to be independently verified and the victims to obtain justice.


Read original post here: Gaza: Israel 'playing games' as human rights organisations denied access

HRCP slams Ahmadis’ killing in Gujranwala

HRCP | July 31, 2014

Lahore, July 28: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has slammed the mob attack and killing of four members of the Ahmadi community in Gujranwala and burning of five houses as “brutalisation and barbarism stooping to new lows”.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Commission said: “HRCP is shocked and disgusted at the killing of four citizens belonging to the Ahmadi faith in Gujranwala after a blasphemy allegation. Four other Ahmadis were reported to be hospitalised in a critical condition. As things stand in the country now, particularly in Punjab, a blasphemy charge, however unfounded, makes such cold-blooded killings somehow less repulsive. The people who were killed were not even indirectly accused of the blasphemy charge. Their only fault was that they were Ahmadi. Torching women and children in their house simply because of their faith represents brutalisation and barbarism stooping to new lows.

“The community, rights respecting citizens and civil society would and must demand accountability of the mob that cheered as the deceased and injured cried for help. But if prospects for such justice were even remotely realistic, that might have deterred many in the mob from being a part of the heinous enterprise. There are many others who are so blinded by their hate and intolerance that they feel justified in cold-blooded murder, even of children, as was reported from Gujranwala. What agonises HRCP is that nothing concrete is being done to tackle neither of the two tendencies. That the mob was dancing for the TV camera after torching the houses of people who were not even accused of blasphemy proves that the whole episode had nothing to do with blasphemy but was aimed at further vitiminising an already persecuted community. It should not be too difficult to imagine the feelings of members of the targeted community in Gujranwala, or anywhere in Pakistan for that matter.

“HRCP calls for a thorough inquiry to find out why police failed to act as the mob went around a number of Ahmadi localities before they eventually chose the one that they decided to target. Members of the mob and the people who instigated them need to be identified and brought to justice. Most importantly, the biases and intolerance that led to the killing must be rooted out through proactive and meaningful steps if we are to survive as a civilised society.”

Zohra Yusuf

Chairperson

Happy Eid for a minority from majority!

Through these lines I want to draw your attention to a very sad incidence of brutality which took place in Gujranwala on 27^th of July 2014. In this shocking incidence a violent mob of hundreds of people attacked houses of members of Ahmadiyya Community on Haidery Road Peoples Colony Gujranwala. They looted and damaged a number of houses and shops etc and after that set the houses to fire. The worship place of the community over there was also damaged. During this hostility 3 people, all women including 2 baby girls died due to suffocation and smoke inhalation. One of the baby girls was just 6 months old. Another lady suffered a miscarriage during this violence. 

The police was there, as media reports confirm but remained a silent bystander. The hostile mob did not allow the rescue workers and the fire brigade to reach the spot. It is stated that the causalities could easily have been avoided had the Police played its positive role; it did play but a suspicious one. When the massacre was over Police was deployed there perhaps to guard the ashes.

The cause of the incidence is stated to be some face book material which in my opinion has neither been witnessed nor carefully understood by the volatile mob. Circumstances and a better knowledge of the functions and operations of face book suggest that the accusers were either ignorant of the working of the face book or they had, perhaps other motives behind.

I want to raise a question, suppose if the allegation is correct, was there any fault of a six months old girl in all that matter. Why she was forced to suffocate? What sort of blasphemy has she committed? I here strongly request you to kindly look into the matter personally and promptly. I also further want you to make sure that the culprits are dealt with an iron hand. The in-efficient Police officials on duty should be held accountable for this criminal negligence.

Sir, I think it is due time to re-consider the scope of the blasphemy laws which are more than often mis-used. I further make an appeal to make sure that these laws must not be abused against the peaceful and peace loving communities in our country like the Ahmadiyya Community.

To uproot this intolerance from the society, govt, media and judiciary should play their due role. Otherwise, such incidents will not only create a feeling of insecurity among the minorities but they will bring a bad name to our country and to your government as well for being prejudiced and biased. 

HR Workshop by HRCP

HRCP, Human Rights Comission of Pakistan, arranged a workshop to create an awareness about human rights of minorites, children, women and labour in Royal Gardens Gujranwala on 10th of August 2014. The speakers emphasized upon the importance of observing human rights. Many of the speakers condemned the Gujranwala massacre during last days of Ramadhan against a minority community, the Ahmadiyya Community. From HRCP Secretariat Lahore, Mr. Mahboob Khan, Mr. Nadeem Anthony and Ms. Aimal Honey also spoke at the occasion. HRCP dist co-ordinator Muhammad Saeed Awan thanked the guests and the audience for their presence. The audience included various human rights activists and members of from different NGOs. Lunch was also served.