Persecution in Village 362, JB, Korian, Gojra, District, Toba Tek Singh, Pakistan

Christians in Pakistan were once again the target of Muslim mobs looting, burning down their houses and killing. This time it was a village called Korian Chak # 362 JB, very close to the small city of sub Division Gojra, District, Toba Tek Singh, Pakistan. On 26th July 2009 there was a Christian wedding in the village. Some children cut up pages of an old book to use as sort of ticker tape to shower on the wedding party. They had unknowingly cut up pages from an old school book of Islamic Studies. The next day when some Muslims found pieces of paper with Arabic script and some Quranic verses scattered about, there was uproar in the village. However, the matter was settled amicably when it became clear that this had been done by children who were illiterate and there was no intention of desecrating any holy texts.

      

Violence against Christians in Korian by Militants of Banned Islamic groups

Life in Korian returned to normal and the matter was almost forgotten. However, Muslim hardliners were at work. The rumor was being spread that the Christians of Korian had desecrated the Holy Qur’an by tearing out pages and scattering them on the roadside to be trampled underfoot. Around sunset on 30th July a large mob descended on Korian demanding that Taalib Masih (the father of the children) be hanged for blasphemy. Fortunately the Christians had been forewarned and had already fled their homes to safer places. The mob then began its spree of looting and burning the 70 to 80 Christian houses in the village. The two small churches, one Protestant and the other Pentecostal, were ransacked but not burned down. Sharief Masih a disabled who was not able to run away died a day before yesterday as he was in a trauma.

      

Killing, Bunning and looting in Gojra

Malicious rumors continued to be circulated that Christians had desecrated the Holy Book. It did not matter where this had happened or who had done it or whether it was true. Christians in many surrounding villages and towns began receiving threats as Mullahs (Muslim clerics) began preaching hatred and revenge. On 1st August a large mob moved towards a Christian locality called Christian Town in the centre of Gojra city near railway station. They carried sticks, clubs and even firearms. The small police force’s half-hearted attempt to stop them was ineffective. The Christians tried to resist the mob. The mob besieged the locality and went on a rampage, looting and burning about 100 Christian houses. Police reinforcements arrived by late afternoon, but it was too late - the damage had been done. Till evening bodies were being recovered from the smoking ruins of the houses. The number of injured is not known, but 8 Christians were killed, two of them children.

      

Mourners Protest against government for not giving Justice to affected Christians

It was planned to have the funeral of the 7 Christians around noon on Sunday, 2nd August. Since last night the local Christians and political activists were trying to convince the MPAs, provincial minister and religious leaders register the case against the persons responsible for the attack. There was a demand to suspend the District Police Officer and District Coordination Officer and book them for the criminal negligence in their inability to control the situation. The political and religious leaders were reluctant to get the case registered with the view that registering the case will worsen the situation. On the other hand the human rights and peace activists were of the view that registering a case is the right of the Christians and we can nominate anybody whom we think is responsible for this disaster. A delegation of local Christians and activists met the provincial minister and parliamentarians and demanded for the urgent attention towards the relief and rehabilitation of the affected people and registration of the case against the all who are responsible.

      

When the dead bodies were brought to the Christian Colony on Sunday at about 12:00 noon, dozens of women, youth and children protested and demanded that we will not let the funeral offered unless the case is registered. The protest was started and the protesters continued their demand of registering the case and then only funerals will be allowed. When the parliamentarians and religious leadership came to know that the protesters will continue their demand, they started luring the protesters with false promises. In this three hours passed and dead bodies were kept in the Christian Town. After three hours the protesters decided to take the dead bodies to the railway track and block the railway system. When dead bodies were taken to the railway track, thousands of people joined the protesters from Gojra, Toba Tek Singh, Faisalabad, Sahiwal and the neighboring villages. The parliamentarians and religious leadership again tried to get the dead bodies but the protesters were strong in the demands. This protest continued for eight hours and at last a case was registered against 17 persons, District Police Officer and District Coordination Officer and 800 unknown people. It was a peaceful protest and the mourners continued praying and chanting slogans for their right of getting the case registered. After the FIR was shown to mourners the coffins were taken to grave yard for burial where their funeral was performed.

Previous Violence by using the Black laws against Christians

What happened in Korian and Gojra was almost a replication of what had happened near Kasur a small city about 40 kilometers from Lahore only a month ago. Similarly, in 2005, in the town of Sangla Hill, Christian houses, two churches, the pastor’s houses, a high school and convent were ransacked and badly damaged. In 1997 a large Christian village called Shantinagar was reduced to ruins. In all these cases the police did almost nothing to stop the rampaging mobs. No doubt condolences, apologies and assurances pour in from officials and other citizens after the event. But the timely action required to prevent such incidents has always been missing.

The affected and common Christians have strongly condemned the role of Christian politicians and Church leaders who badly handle this issue and did not respond up to the demands and of the people. Affected people have formed their own Action Committee. The political and church leadership housed them in a Church building waiting that people will come to them for the funeral and they will perform funeral. Affected and mourners strongly condemned and protested against them. The local Muslim politicians and civil society organizations were also slow to respond in this situation.

Relief Efforts

Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif visited the Christian Town on August 4, 2009 and announced that the government will rebuild the houses and will compensate all the other damages and the reconstruction work will be started in 48 hours. Governor Punjab also visited and announced some future plans of building colony for the Christians in the area.

Signs of Hope

Those who attacked the Christians were Muslims but after the incident, the local Muslims living in the neighboring areas rescued many Christians from the hiding places. Many Christian families were saved because the local Muslim families had provided them shelter in their homes. Local Muslims provided food, water and other necessities to the Christians at once

Role of Local and national media

The role of local and national media is shaky. The media tried to show it Christian Muslim clashes not Christian persecution for their faith. The Christians loss was not shown. It was not shown how the masked people in an organized way burnt down the houses within less than two hours.

Latest situation and needs

The government has started the reconstruction of the homes of the 96 families in Gojra and 51 in Koriyan. The government has also provided PKR 100,000 to each family for the compensation of the goods burnt in the homes.

The money (Pak Rs 100,000 US $ 1250) that has been given to each family is given at a wrong time as there are no homes where people could keep their goods so the money is being spent on daily usage of the families. Also the money given to the people is according to the homes burnt but in the joint family system, there are sometimes more than three families living in one home having their separate food and living system. If we see the money given in this context the amount is not enough for the people.

The food and other day to day needs are met in the area by the civil society organizations, groups and individuals. Despite the needs being met, there are sections in the society who are left unattended. Prominent among them are children and those laborers who had donkey carts to earn their living.

Following is the detail of the need of the children:

1. Children need their uniforms, school shoes, books, school bags
2. Children are in trauma and need a trauma healing program

Detail of Gojra

Here is Information of Gojra.

Total Christian Families are: 350
Men: 2000
Women: 3000
Children: 1550
Area: 90 Kanal
Established Since: 1905
Professions: Sanitary Workers and Labors
Donkey Carts: 2
School/college going children/youth:
Boys: 300
Girls: 400

Detail of Koriyan

Total Christian families: 104
Homes burnt: 68
Muslims’ homes affected: 2
Men: 262    Women: 252   Kids: 266
Total 62 children are studying in the schools in the village Koriyan.
Area: 90 Kanal
Established Since: 19 Year

Donkey carts

13 families have donkey carts in Koriyan village and the families depend on the income earned by these donkey carts. No organization or government has given any help to the owners of the donkey carts. The donkey have been stolen or injured and the carts were set to fire.