Funeral of another victim of blasphemy

Samuel Masih killed by prison guard.  He was accused of have thrown litter against the wall of a mosque. Archbishop of Lahore: "The poor and weak are victims of fanatical hatred". 

Lahore (AsiaNews) - Samuel Masih, 32 years, was killed in name of the religion by the policeman that held him in custody. He was hit in the head with a grass cutter, and was in a coma for a few days. He died in the hospital. At his funeral two days ago, Mons. Lawrence Saidanha, Archbishop of Lahore, remembered,  "the number of victims (caused by the blasphemy law) has but grown. Each day passing with these laws in the book of the statute gives rise to injustices against the people of Pakistan. It is symptomatic of a dangerous trend and it is usually the poor and weak people who become victims of fanatical hatred." The bishop explained, "Samuel was doing his duty, collecting the rubbish littered in the garden. He placed the heap outside the wall of a mosque in order to burn it later. This act was considered blasphemy."

It happened last August. Samuel was accused of having thrown waste against the wall of the mosque. For this, a Muslim prayer leader had him beaten bloody and then handed him over to the police. On the 23 of August 2003, Samuel was arrested on charges of blasphemy against Islam, and held in the Lahore Central Jail until May 22, when he was taken to the hospital for tuberculosis. A policeman was assigned to safeguard him. But at 4.30 in the morning on May 24th, another policeman attacked him. He declared it was an obligation of his faith to kill Samuel. "I have offered my religious duty for killing the man." He said. And he added," I am spiritually satisfied and ready to face the consequences."

In reality, the danger is that the attacker will not even be charged. Judge Nazir Akhtar, of the Supreme Court of Lahore, declared publicly " it is a religious obligation to kill a blasphemer immediately, without a trial." Samuel's father, Emmanuel Masih, meanwhile has received threats if he dares to seek justice for the killing of his son: "We were threatened and harassed and warned that if we will pursue his case, we will face dire consequences. That is why we are not pursuing his case." 

The attack on Samuel Masih is the last of a series of Muslim violence against Christians.  In May the young Javed Anjum died from torture by Islamic soldiers; Christian leader were threatened with death at Quetta (Baluchistan); a Protestant pastor, Wilson Fazal, was kidnapped and tortured.  The law on the blasphemy justifies a generalized climate of violence and intolerance.

President Musharraf promised various times to review and correct the blasphemy law, but up to now, no results have been seen.  At Samuel Masih's funeral, Mons.  Saldhana said that "President Musharraf's call to review the Hadood Ordinances and the blasphemy laws becomes more be urgent and necessary… is not enough to punish individual acts, but to heal the society through rooting out the causes of religious and other forms of intolerance."

Ejaz Ghauri, President of the Progressive Christian Movement, condemned the killing of Samuel Masih as "a huge threat to the religious minorities in Pakistan, that they are not safe even in the hands of the police."  He has asked to President Musharraf not only to correct the law on the blasphemy, but to cancel it immediately.  And he reminded that, " Christians are the loyal citizens of Pakistan, that have served the country with zeal and hard work.  Their ancestors struggled for Pakistan with the father of the nation, Qaud-i-Azam".  That renders  "even more unbearable this type of treatment".  (QF)

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