Officials Allow Muslims to Demolish 30 Christian Homes for Stable
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Officials Allow Muslims to Demolish 30 Christian Homes for Stable
You are free to disseminate the following news. We request that you reference ICC (International Christian Concern) and include our web address www.www.persecution.org. Contact Samuel Wallace, Regional Manager for South Asia, Europe, and Latin America, 1-800-ICC (422)-5441, [email protected].
(December 19, 2008) The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.www.persecution.org has learned that a powerful Muslim village elder and his nephews forcibly evicted about 30 impoverished Christian families from their homes in order to make way for a stable for their livestock. While the stable will keep the Muslims’ animals warm and dry, these 30 Christian families are now homeless in their village of Kotla Punjubaig in Sheikhupura district near Lahore, Pakistan.
In an interview with ICC, a local Christian elder of Kotla Punjubaig, Boota Masih, said, “This land was given to our forefathers by the British Rulers before the Indo-Pak partition in 1947 and we had been living here since then.”
Masih described what happened as follows: “A few days back the hard-line Muslim head of our village, Muhammad Mansha, and his nephews, Akbar Ali, Arif, Asgher Abbas and Muhammad Yousaf, armed with deadly firearms, invaded our homes and forcibly threw us and our household things out of our houses.”
Masih said sadly, “And [they] left us homeless and shelter-less by demolishing our sweet homes.”
Boota Masih and other victims added that Muhammad Mansha and his nephews had occupied their homes to build a stable for their livestock with permission from officials of the local Land Requisition Department.
As these families have no other place to live, their belongings are currently strewn along the streets and alleys of the neighborhood (photo of belongings on street at right).
Muhammad Mansha and his nephews refused to comment on this matter, despite ICC’s repeated efforts to contact them.
Masih claimed that police officials had not taken any action to prosecute Mansha or his nephews and had not yet attempted to find the Christians alternate housing, despite the fact that he had appealed to Punjab’s Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif (Fax: (0092) 42 – 5881383) to intervene and provide them homes.
Please contact the Pakistani embassy in your country and ask them to protect the rights of Christians and all religious minorities.
Pakistan Embassies:
USA: (202) 243-6500, [email protected]
Canada: (613) 238-7881, [email protected]
UK: 0870-005-6967, [email protected]
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ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC delivers humanitarian aid, trains and supports persecuted pastors, raises awareness in the US regarding the problem of persecution, and is an advocate for the persecuted on Capitol Hill and the State Department. For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.