In Punjab, Muslims arrested for destroying a church
Pastor Dale Morgan
6 September, 2006
PAKISTAN
*In Punjab, Muslims arrested for destroying a church*
by Qaiser Felix
Police arrest four men of a group of 30 who destroyed a Protestant
Church and beat up Christian women and children church last August 12.
the church will not be rebuilt until the whole group is arrested.
Lahore (AsiaNewsWires) – Sharaqpur police arrested four men charged with
attacking a Protestant church and beating Christian women and children
in Mominpura Thaiki village, Joseph Francis, coordinator of the Centre
for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS).
The incident in question took place last August 12 when at least 30
armed Muslim men from another village threw hand grenades against an
Apostolic Church causing its the roof and walls to collapse. They set
ablaze two adjacent houses, desecrated holy books, took valuables from
the church, and dragged away Bashir Masih, a local man who tried to stop
them, as well as 25 heads of cattle heads.
Mominpura Thaiki is home to 65 Christian and 10 Muslim families. Village
Muslims took out arms to defend their Christian neighbours and forced
the attackers to flee.
Francis said the police detained the four men—Yaqoob Meher, Manzoor,
Arshid and Punoo who named their 16 fellow attackers.
“Bashir Masih was found and 10 animals were recovered,” he said, “and
the police are still in the village to protect but we are not going to
rebuild the church until those who destroyed it are behind bars.”
The village had a similar attack on August 7 but on that occasion the
police failed to move in.
The cause for the violence is that the village land is coveted by a rich
local Muslim landowner, Mehr Yaqoob. On previous occasions, he tried to
get the land by forging sales documents but locals were able to stop by
going to court.
“We sent a letter to the Chief Minister of Punjab on August 24
requesting clear title to the land for those who live and work on it
since 1988 to avoid further disputes,” Francis added.