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| November 17, 2005 | Thursday | Shawwal 14, 1426 |
Minorities to mourn attack on churches today
ISLAMABAD, Nov 16: Chris-tian educational institutions in the country will remain closed on Thursday in protest against attacks on churches in Sangla Hill, says a press release issued by the All-Pakistan Minorities Alliance here on Wednesday.
It said other religious minorities have also joined the call to close their institutions. The minorities will observe a day of prayers and mourning on Thursday.
Chairman APMA Shahbaz Bhatti reiterated his demand that the prime minister or Punjab chief minister should visit the site of the incident and condemn the act of religious terrorism.
“The ash of holy Bibles and other damaged holy material will not be removed from the damaged church buildings until the chief minister or the prime minister visits the site of the incident.”
He warned the government that minorities would launch a countrywide protest if their demands were not met.
Blasphemy case: The coordinator of International and National Lamp Fellowship, Robinson Asghar, has said a case of blasphemy should be registered against those people who burnt two churches and hundreds of copies of Bible.
They should be given such exemplary and severe punishment that no one should ever dare to do such an outrageous act in future, he said.
The coordinator further said Pakistan was already known as a religious fundamentalist country around the world.
Before this tragedy, Pakistan image/reputation has already been damaged because of Shanti Nagar and bomb blasts at churches.
Now when Gen Pervez Musharraf is leading to eliminate international terrorism, people burning churches and Bibles are present in our own country. Immediate action should be taken against those committing such outrageous acts, he added.
He said peaceful Christians of Pakistan should not be compelled to the extent that they come out on the roads and demand a separate homeland.
He said: “On behalf of the Christian community in Pakistan, I demand that a judge of the Supreme Court should conduct an inquiry as to why did the law enforcement agencies in spite of getting information and on looking at the situation did not take appropriate measures and let such a big tragedy take place.”
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