Christians Refused Service at Muslim Shops, Church Desecrated near Lahore

10/12/07 Pakistan (International Christian Concern) – The Christian community of Gowindh, a small village near the India-Pakistan border at Lahore , was economically boycotted by local Muslims on October 11, 2007. Earlier in the day, a mob of around 5,000 Muslims had desecrated the New Apostolic Church in Lahore at 4 pm, in the Hadiyara police jurisdiction.

According to the fact finding report of a non-governmental organization, the Muslims of the locality asked the Christian community not to use the church’s loudspeaker for their morning service, because it disturbed their morning prayers. The Christian community did not acquiesce to this request, and in response Muslims allegedly forced their way into the church, shouted slogans against the Christians, cut the loudspeaker’s electric wire and put manure on the church’s walls.

Mr. Sattar Masih, an Evangelist, said, “Maulvi Rasheed and Haji Yaseen, the clerics of the local mosque, provoked the Muslims through mosques’ loudspeakers asking them to get-together to attack the ‘Kafirs’ [non-believers] and their Church.”

“The same announcement was made in eight different mosques of the area later, which collected around 5,000 Muslims to target 25 – 30 Christian families of village Gowindh,” he added.

Mr. Shahzad Masih, in charge of the choir, notified the media that the Muslims decided to extend their attack on the church to an economic boycott of the entire Christian community. He said, “The shopkeepers belonging to the Muslim community refused to sell any eatable item to the Christians, give fodder for cattle, and did not allow the Christian to travel locally in the public transport.”

According to the local Christians, “The Muslim villagers were instigated by the Muslim clerics to protest and attack the Christians.”

Master Shahbaz Masih, a 14-year old Christian, blamed Maulvi Rasheed, a local cleric “for harassing and forcing him to convert to Islam several times in past.”

The Christians also came out on the roads and protested against the religious discrimination. They declared the incident a “social discrimination,” since the Muslim majority has continually asked them not to use the loudspeaker for their morning services.

“The tensions had been developing for last so many months and went up to its peak during month of Ramadan [a month of fasting for Muslims],” they added.

Mr. Muhammad Sadiq, an influential Muslim of the village, denied all the allegations and that anyone had desecrated the Church.

The Additional Station House Officer, Mr. Muhammad Aslam, visited the village and deployed eight guards outside the church building on the same day. Mr. Athar Rasool, Supervisory Police Officer, had not registered a case against the culprits by the time this report was written.

Gowindh is a small village on the India-Pakistan border in the Hadiyara police jurisdiction. The village has around a population of around 10,000, including 25 – 30 Christian families, most of whom are farmers. There are eight mosques in the village and the only Church building is a small structure that was built before the India-Pakistan partition in 1947.