ASIA/PAKISTAN - Shabhaz Bhatti remembered in Italy for his testimony of faith in politics
Rome (Agenzia Fides) - An excellent testimony of faith in politics, significant for the present and the future of Pakistan: With these reasons, on Sunday, December 4, the figure of Shahbaz Bhatti, Federal Minister for Religious Minorities, Catholic leader directly involved in politics, killed in March 2011, will be remembered in Italy, in the award ceremony "Santa Barbara in the world", organized by the diocese and the city of Rieti, of which Santa Barbara is the patron. The prize will be awarded to Marcianum Press, a Venetian publishing house that published the text "Christians in Pakistan: hardship and hope" that collects Bhatti's spiritual testament, a text that has left its sign for its depth and incisiveness. It is the most widely distributed text after the Minister's death, in which Bhatti says he would only like "a place at Jesus' feet". Monsignor Dino Pistolato, Director of Caritas Venetian, author of the text-conversation with Bhatti, reminds Fides: "This text is an act of prophecy. I remember Bhatti's faithfulness, consistency, passion for man. In each daily gesture, he was able to be with God". Prof. Mobeen Shahid will be present at the award, a professor at the Lateran University, and Secretary General of Pakistani Christians Association in Italy who, in the name of Shabhaz Bhatti, promotes in Europe the care and support to the faithful Pakistanis who suffer discrimination and persecution. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 02/12/2011)
ASIA/PAKISTAN - Rapes and murders of Christians in Punjab, in silence and injustice
Kasur (Agenzia Fides) - Javed Masih, Shahbaz Masih's father, a young Christian killed by Muslims in Kasur (in Punjab), has just managed to register a formal complaint (First Information Report) and is now demanding justice; Sonia Bibi, a young 20 year-old Christian Kasur, is traumatized after being gang raped by Muslim youths; Rebecca Bibi, a 12 year-old Christian girl, who worked as a maid, lost an eye due to the beatings on behalf of her Muslim employer: these are the dramatic cases reported to Fides by the Christian communities in Punjab that complain about "violence and abuse for religious reasons, the police's lack of collaboration, the injustice in the courts".
As reported to Fides the Protestant Pastor Mushtaq Gill, in Kasur, who personally knows Shabhaz Masih's family, the killing of the young man, which occurred about a month ago, left a family on the street. The boy was killed in retaliation by some Muslims who wanted to punish his father, Javed Masih, an artisan manufacturer of bricks, for failing to honor a loan. Today the family is in poverty, since it has six other very young children. The police at first refused to register the case, then, finally, with the intervention of the Ngo LEAD (Legal Evangelical Association Development) opened an investigation of the case. "But the hopes for justice are very few" notes Pastor Gill.
In the case of Sonia Bibi, a 20-year-old stopped and raped a few days ago by a group of Muslims as she was going to work, always in Kasur, seems that the police are "a little more collaborative," and the complaint has been registered. The case is emblematic of the vulnerability of Christian girls. The accused belong to powerful Muslim families, and in such cases, the perpetrators often go unpunished because of a deep complicity in the judicial system and institutions.
The poorest Christian families, for economic necessity, often send their minor children to work as domestic servants in Muslim families. Here children are sexually abused and beaten, as the case of the 12-year-old Rebecca Bibi (fantasy name), from Lahore, who came home with bruises and swollen wounds. The family took her to the hospital (the child lost an eye) and made a complaint. Pastor Gill told Fides: "In Punjab, the Christian situation is critical: they are victims of abuse of power and have no justice, given the weakness of the legal system, which is a big problem". (PA) (Agenzia Fides 02/12/2011)
ASIA/PAKISTAN - Catholic Girl killed in Faisalabad, a "martyr of the faith"
Faisalabad (Agenzia Fides) - The local Catholic Church calls her "a martyr of the faith": Mariah Manisha was a Catholic girl from Faisalabd who was killed a week ago by a Muslim man who had kidnapped her and intended to marry her. Fr. Zafal Iqbal, a Catholic priest from Khushpur, where the 18-year-old Mariah's family live, reports to Fides that "the girl resisted, she did not want to convert to Islam and she did not marry the man, who killed her for this. She is a martyr".
The case was brought by Fr. Iqbal to the attention of the Commission "Justice and Peace" and the Bishop of Faisalabad, Mgr. Joseph Cutts. "The culprit was arrested and police are investigating. We hope that justice is done, while the community is sad and upset", notes to Fides Fr. Iqbal. "Cases like these occur daily in Punjab" confirms to Fides Fr. Khalid Rashid Asi, general Vicar of the diocese of Faisalabad. "It is very sad, Christians, often girls, are helpless victims".
Another case solved in past days, is that of the Catholic 72-year-old from Faisalabad, Rehmat Masih, released a week ago, after 2 years in prison and of immense suffering, following a false accusation of blasphemy. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 02/12/2011)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please no anonymous comments. I require at least some way for people to address each other personally and courteously. Having some name or handle helps.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.