Christians having horrendous time in Pak thanks to 'intolerant' Islamic laws.Washington, Oct.4 (ANI): Christians in Pakistan have been going through a harrowing time in the country with numerous violent attacks being reported against the minority community in the recent past. Last month, severe violence had erupted in Punjab's Sialkot district Sialkot district is one of the districts of Punjab province Pakistan. Geography The Sialkot District lies south of Gujrat District, the state of Jammu, and Kashmir, while Narowal District is to the southeast and Gujranwala District is situated to the west. . A Church was also torched by agitators claiming that a Christian youth named Robert Masih had desecrated des·e·crate tr.v. des·e·crat·ed, des·e·crat·ing, des·e·crates To violate the sacredness of; profane. [de- + (con)secrate. the Koran. Masih was promptly arrested after the incident, but was found dead in his jail cell on September 15. Police claimed Masih had committed suicide, but his family said Masih was brutally beaten and tortured during his detention. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. The Washington Times, all the recent attacks targeting Christians, who accounts about four percent of the 170 million population of Pakistan, were provoked by hate speeches made by Muslim clerics on loudspeakers from mosques. People believe that the rising intolerance and violence against minorities in the country was due to the promulgation PROMULGATION. The order given to cause a law to be executed, and to make it public it differs from publication. (q.v.) 1 Bl. Com. 45; Stat. 6 H. VI., c. 4. 2. of Shariah law Noun 1. shariah law - the code of law derived from the Koran and from the teachings and example of Mohammed; "sharia is only applicable to Muslims"; "under Islamic law there is no separation of church and state" Islamic law, sharia, sharia law, shariah and the increasing influence of extremist ideology. "The rising intolerance and violence against Christians is a result of the Talibanization and promulgation of Shariah law in the country," said Kanwal Feroze, a renowned journalist. "It is not a matter of blasphemy blasphemy, in religion, words or actions that display irreverence toward or contempt for God or that which is held sacred. Blasphemy is regarded as an offense against the community to varying degrees, depending on the extent of the identification of a religion with law, but shows a mind-set of the common man," Feroze added. It is also believed that the controversial blasphemy law, which was introduced in 1986 during General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq's regime, has widened the gap between the minority Christians and majority Muslims. It is worth mentioning here that in 1979, General Zia-ul-Haq introduced several Islamic laws, which strengthened fundamentalist organizations and also sowed the seed of Talibanisation of Pakistan. Under the Evidence Act of the Islamic law, a Christian man's witness is worth half that of a Muslim. Christian women would not be deemed as witnesses at all. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had promised to review such discriminatory laws after the recent attacks and a committee has also been formed in this regard. However, political parties have already said that they would strongly oppose any change in the blasphemy law. (ANI) Copyright 2009 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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