Islamabad: activists restore desecrated memorial to Shahbaz Bhatti
Islamabad (AsiaNews) - The activists of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA)
have repaired the memorial of Shahbaz Bhatti, a Catholic minister for religious
minorities massacred by Islamic fundamentalists in March 2011. The
monument was desecrated by unknown persons - religious extremists and common
criminals - March 9 last year (click
here for photos), but some local media such as a newspaper close to the
Protestant Christian community, deny the incident stating that it never happened. Speaking
to AsiaNews, Paul Bhatti, brother of
Shahbaz and current Minister for National Harmony, confirms "the
relocation of the memorial, from which they were stolen candles and flowers and
the picture was ruined."
On
9 March, the Christian community in Pakistan suffered two serious attacks: the
first in a suburb of Lahore, where a
Muslim mob burned 160 houses and two churches, forcing most residents to
flee. The
raid was sparked by
allegations of blasphemy against a Christian, who allegedly - so far
without evidence - offended the Prophet Mohammed in a drunken altercation with
a young Muslim. On
the same day in Islamabad the memorial of Shahbaz Bhatti was vandalized.
Manzoor
Ghori, coordinator of APMA in the capital, has taken steps to remove the graffiti
from the picture of Shahbaz Bhatti, at the moment a few letters of his name are
still marked, which will soon be replaced with others. He
adds that "such acts of vandalism will not to stop our battle" for
the rights of Christians and all minorities. In
addition, the activist does not spare criticism of journalists, media and
organizations - including the Pakistan Christian Congress, who denied the
"vandalization" of the monument - and who "do not check the
facts" behaving "irresponsibly" to alter the truth .
Paul
Bhatti, Minister for National Harmony, has also spoken out against the "hypocritical"
behavior of this fringe of society, including the Pakistani Christian media guilty
of denying "the attack on the memorial of my brother, of which there is
both evidence and testimony".
He
says he does not "yet" know the names of those responsible, but thanks
the diligence with which the APMA activists who have managed to repair the
damage.
With
regard to the recent wave of anti-Christian violence, Bhatti hopes that
"the guilty are punished, those who have suffered damage are reimbursed
and there are initiatives in the future to prevent a recurrence of such
incidents." And
as is clear from the investigation, it is increasingly evident that the cause
of the violence is economic rather than religious coupled with the connivance
of the police who did not intervene with the necessary promptness. "It's
a very serious matter - accused the minister - contrary to humanity and
religious sensitivity. All mosques in Pakistan have condemned this act." Finally,
he has expressed "cautious optimism" for the fate of Sawan Masih, the
Christian accused of blasphemy that was the pretext for the assault: "We
are in the presence of a false accusation - confirms the minister - with no eye
witnesses. It
was a drunken altercation, there are no other elements, and so we are confident.
"
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