Faisalabad: Muslim activist saves a Christian from blasphemy charges
Faisalabad ( AsiaNews) - A "success" story with a happy ending thanks
to the intervention of " a Muslim activist, who saved the life of an
innocent young Christian" who "is not even able to read". This is
what Suneel Malik, Director of Peace and Human Development Foundation ( Phd ) tells
AsiaNews, commenting on the latest case of false blasphemy charges that
occurred in recent days in Faisalabad in Punjab. He hopes it will help an
increase in the "level of tolerance towards religious minorities",
for the construction of a true peace in Pakistan and to put an end "to
false accusations that besmirch the name of the country" and affect "
social harmony ."
The episode date back to 22 May: Mansha Masih, is a Christian, who has worked
for 15 years as a scavenger in the town of Hajweri, Faisalabad. He was picking
up litter and leaves from abandoned houses in the area, when a young Muslim
named Billu, from the roof of his home, accused him of desecrating pages of the
Muslim holy book, the Koran. After having railed against the Christian, he began
to brutally beat him.
However, the intervention of the 26-year old Muslim activist Farhan Sadiq , a
journalist and member of the Human Rights Defenders Network, was
decisive in saving the Christian. He ripped Masih from the hands of his
tormentor and took him home. He then launched an independent investigation to
verify the facts, after which it was found that the pages containing sacred
verses were "desecrated" by two underage students in the area, who did not want
to go to the local mosque and so they burned the books.
However, rumors of a possible case of blasphemy perpetrated by a Christian had
already circulated in the town and a crowd was ready to punish the man, though
innocent, with death. Even after the confession of two young men, the crowd did
not want to believe the innocence of Mansha Masih, who has repeatedly stated he
is "illiterate" and " had done nothing wrong," not knowing
the content of the verses printed on sheets . The Muslim activist's decision in
dealing with crowd and proving the charges to be false, in the end, saved the Christian's
life, thus he fulfilled his task "with a great sense of
responsibility."
With a population of more than 180 million people (97 per cent Muslim),
Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world, the second largest
Muslim nation after Indonesia. About 80 per cent of Muslims are Sunni, whilst
Shias are 20 per cent. Hindus are 1.85 per cent, followed by Christians (1.6
per cent) and Sikhs (0.04 per cent). Violence against ethnic and religious
minorities is commonplace across the country, with Shia Muslims and Christians
as the main target, with things getting worse. Dozens of episodes , including
targeted attacks against entire communities - such as in Gojra in 2009
or Joseph Colony Lahore last year - or
places of worship (Peshawar in September last year) or
abuses against individuals ( Sawan Masih and Asia Bibi, Rimsha Masih or the
young Robert Fanish Masih, who
also died in his cell), are often perpetrated under the pretext of the
blasphemy laws.
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