Two Christian women assaulted over blasphemy charges
Lahore, Pakistan

Blasphemy furore hit Pakistan again as two Christian women were beaten and publicly humiliated by an angry mob in this city apparently over allegations of frivolous religious sacrilege.

The roughing up of the family forced them to go into hiding for fear of being killed. The fresh incident has come as the country is yet to recover from the assassination of outspoken governor Salmaan Taseer for his support to Christian woman Asia Bibi in jail on blasphemy charges.

“None of our relatives is ready to let us stay with them. They fear they will be victimized by the extremists,” John Chand from an undisclosed location.

According to Chand, he married Amina Zaheer a Muslim. " We were in love since college days, Zaheer Malik, Amin`s father didn`t approve of our marriage, he wanted me to convert to Islam to marry Amina. Amina and I had an understanding that we will get married in a court, she can follow her Muslim faith and I will follow my Christian Faith. Her family didnt agree, eventually we got married and his family accepted the fact that we both can live together and keep our respective faiths."

He further said, " We moved in with my mother, sister and brother, initially the things were smooth, my father in law Zaheer Malik kept telling everyone that I had converted to Islam. The things started messing up upon the birth of my child, I wanted to name her Sonia Chand, her mother had no objection with the name, but she wanted Sonia to be a Muslim and I wanted her to be a Christian. Amina started pressuring my family that she will make sure that our daughter follows the Islamic faith."

The allegations of blasphemy stem from a dispute between Amina, a Muslim, and her sister-in-law Saira Chand, a Christian, in an East Lahore locality. The two got into an argument on Tuesday night and though it appeared to have been settled, on Wednesday morning, after her husband John Chand left for work, Amina walked out onto the street and started shouting that Saira had abused the Prophet Mohammad.

A short while later, a group of men led by Mian Muhammad Sameer, a member of a religious organization keen on raising its sectarian profile, forced their way into the house and started slapping Saira, said another of her brothers, Farhan Chand. “Other men and women from the neighborhood started gathering at the house too and they beat up my sister and mother. They were the only people in the house,” he said.

An International News agency quoted Sameer“We tried our best to get her to confess her crime” . As a member of the religious organization, he said he could not tolerate any derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammad.

Sameer added that he was very proud of his wife’s performance during the mob beating. “She beat Saira more than anyone else. Her hand is so swollen that she hasn’t been able to cook since the day of the incident. I’ve been getting my meals from a restaurant,” he said.

Malik Mumtaz Qadri, the self-confessed assassin of Salmaan Taseer, is a member of the same group as Sameer. The group also runs a twenty-four hour cable TV channel.

Khadim Hazoor, Sameer’s son-in-law and another participant in the beating, said that the women’s faces were blackened and they were made to wear necklaces of shoes and paraded around the locality on donkeys to humiliate them. He said the women denied blaspheming and repeatedly touched their feet seeking mercy.

He said the people of the locality would not allow John Chand or his family to return to their house, which he lives next door to. He claimed that the fight between Saira and Amina the night before the incident revolved around the upbringing of John and Amina’s 18-month-old daughter. Amina had wanted to raise her daughter as a Muslim, but Saira wanted her niece to be raised as a Christian, he said.

Hazoor accused Zahid of “cheating Islam” by pretending to convert from Christianity to Islam so he could marry the Muslim girl. “We will not let them live in this house. He has not only cheated Amina but also Islam,” he said.

Zameer Khan, an NGO worker, helped the family flee the locality after they were attacked. “Apparently there was no blasphemy, just an argument between two women,” he said.

He said after hearing of the incident, he had reached the scene to find the women being attacked. He said he had asked the mob if anyone had heard Saira utter any blasphemous remarks, to which they all replied in the negative. He said he persuaded them to let the women go while he investigated the matter. He then helped relocate the family temporarily. He said he had also convinced the mob not to involve the police.

The SSP ( Senior Superintendent of Police ) Investigation Lahore Police Zulfiqar Hameed  "It is a domestic issue, no formal complaint has been filed, but according to my information Saira was falsely accused of Blasphemy, the family has gone into hiding fearing the extremists."

XAVIER PATRAS WILLIAM
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