Stop Killing Christians in Pakistan: Hector Aleem

Peace Worldwide along with other Pakistani Christian organizations protested against the inhuman treatment of Christians in Pakistan. The protest was in front of United Nations Headquarters New York, USA.

Hector Aleem describes two nation theory in Pakistan

Before the arrival of Islam in the subcontinent, nations living there like Christians, Buddhists and Hindus were living peacefully, then came the robbers and thugs like Mohammad Bin Qasim, Mehmood Ghaznavi and others from Afghanistan and Middle East, who disturbed those peaceful people and demolished and ruined their worship places. Pakistani Muslims of today still read those awful deeds of their ancestors with fun and tell these stories to children proudly and now have named their nuclear missiles on the names of these terrorists and thugs. Then came the British, who ruled this region for many years, Muslims of that time raised their voice for two nation theory and describing it as that they have different dresses and different religion from Hindus. But the Christians of this region have been facing discrimination since the arrival of Muslims in this continent because the real enemy of Christians are Muslims not Hindus since the arrival of Islam. Their history is full of killing Christians and Jews when Islam spreaded.  When Muslims arrived in subcontinent, they followed the same path of their ancestors and targeted Christians of the region. Muslims are targeting Christians all over the world whether they are in a Muslim country or a non-Muslim country. Where Islam is dominant (as in the Middle East and Pakistan) religious minorities suffer brutal persecution with little resistance. Where Islam is in the minority (as in Thailand, the Philippines and Europe) there is the threat of violence if Muslim demands are not met.  Either situation seems to provide a justification for religious terrorism, which is persistent and endemic to Islamic fundamentalism.

Pakistani Christians are very peaceful nation and they waited for 67 years for their right of free speech and freedom to practice their religion but they are never allowed to do so in Pakistan. Two Nation theory applies here because Christians have everything different with Muslims. Christians, Jews and Muslims are called Abrahamic religions but Muslims created the difference by calling God, Allah and it is forbidden for many non-Muslims in Muslims countries to call Allah as their God. This is the biggest difference they have created. Muslims only had differences of dress and religion with the Hindus but Christians have difference of religion, culture, language, customs, dresses and everything with the Muslims. According to our Christian faith, Jesus Christ is the son of God, Christianity is based on it, and we believe that God gave all His powers to Jesus Christ, this is our faith and after Jesus Christ no prophet is required. We have been hearing that Islam spread through sword, and it is still happening in Pakistan, I have witnessed what they do to Christians of Pakistan, Christians are forcibly made to accept the Muslim Prophet as their last prophet, they are forced to renounce their religion and faith and practice the Christianity according to Islam. We are forced to accept Prophet Mohammad as our last prophet and our Christian girls are forced to cover their heads during the recitation of Quranic verses and Azan in every part of Pakistan. During these 67 years, Christians of Pakistan have faced the worst examples of discrimination. It is now time that Christians should rise against this discrimination because it is unbearable when we see our Christian girls and women being raped and kidnapped and when the judge gives the decision in favour of the rapist and kidnappers by keeping discrimination and prejudice in his mind. In blasphemy cases, one can experience the worst example of discrimination and torture in prison during this case. I, myself have been the victim of this discriminatory law and experienced and eye witnessed worst form of torture that is impossible for me to explain. The First Information Report (FIR) of a blasphemy case can be lodged on oral statement and no official investigate the case before lodging the FIR. It is required that the plaintiff should be a Muslim and the officials trust him blindly, the accused is than brought in front of the plaintiff and clerics by the police officers and they torture him in front of his plaintiffs and others. The lawyers boycott the accused and no one takes his/her case and leaves the accused alone. It is essential that the judge who is dealing the blasphemy case should be a Muslim and when the accused is produced before the court, the first question of the judge is “Why did you do it” no one asks him if he really does it? In the result, the victim losses his family, house, relatives, respect and friends and during or before the trail he gets killed by the police or inmates. Same is in the education system; the teachers are discriminative towards the Christian students. From the very first day of school, Christian child starts to hear that Christianity is a false religion and that they should accept Islam if they want to go to Heaven. Christians never get any key post in police and district management.

Now let’s talk about Politicians of Pakistan, we all know about Fazal ur Rehman who recruited many Talibans. Chairman of Council of Islamic Ideology (Islami Nazriati Council) is Maulana Sharani of JUI (F) (Jamiat Ullema Islam – Fazal ur Rehman), the same maulana who criticised a Christian MNA (Member of National Assembly) Tariq.C.Qaiser, who recited “in the name Our Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” in National Assembly though Tariq C Qaiser was reciting it as his own faith. After that they tormented and harassed him that much that he had to flee the country. Politicians like Imran Khan and Maulana Fazal Ur Rehman talks against Christianity bravely and proudly without any hesitation and give statements in favour of Talibans. When any terrorist attack or a blast occurs in Christian enclaves or Church we hear only one statement from President to MNAs (Member of National Assembly) that no Muslim can do this it is an act of enemies of Islam. Same is with print and electronic media of Pakistan; they keep disgracing Christianity and spread false news and hateful material about Christianity.

In the end I would like to say that Christians have not arrived in this region from USA or Europe they are the indigenous people of this region, but Muslims of Pakistan proudly tells about their ancestors as Sherazi from Sheraz, Bukhari from Bukhara, Qureshi from the Quresh tribe of Arab and etc. We the Christians of Pakistan are keeping our eyes on the international community and organisations like United Nations and Commonwealth to promote us because no one is helping us. Real Two Nation theory applies here in Pakistan, we want our separate homeland where we will be able to preach and practice our religion freely and openly. My article should not be made as a base of a separate homeland for Muslims living in USA or Europe because they have in migrated here from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and other Muslim countries but we are the indigenous people of subcontinent and we have the right to demand for our own homeland but Muslims of USA and Europe doesn’t. Also Muslims in Europe and USA are enjoying freedom and equal rights but on the other hand Christians of Pakistan are suffering torture, discrimination and extinction. It is our right for a separate Christian homeland in Pakistan.

This article is published by Peace Worldwide 

Hector Aleem urges Pakistan to become a Secular State

Many Pakistanis are unaware of the role Christians have played in the nation’s history. Christians have had a considerable impact, especially in education and health. Many of Pakistan’s most prominent leaders — including the current prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, the assassinated prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, and former President Pervez Musharraf — went to Christian schools. Christians also educated Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who founded Pakistan in 1947.

The targeting of Christians comes amid a widespread breakdown of public order. The ordinary Christian — hearing stories of gangs breaking into homes and kidnapping Christian girls and women — thinks only of survival. Pakistani Muslims are frequently the culprits in attacks on Christians. Christians have been especially vulnerable in cases concerning the blasphemy laws, which easily convert into a tool of oppression against them

This is a planned genocide of Pakistani Christians by Muslims who are backed by the Government of Pakistan. Government promises to reconstruct the homes of Christians destroyed by mobs and distribute aid are rarely carried out. This only exists on media, in newspapers or official papers of the government of Pakistan. Those Pakistanis who do speak up for Christians have themselves become targets of violence. In 2011, a governor of Punjab Province who criticized the blasphemy laws was killed by his own bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri who was then hailed as a hero. I have witnessed this during my imprisonment in Adiala prison; everyone from most junior to most senior jail officials appreciated him and addressed him as a great hero of Islam.

The situation of Christians can only be improved when Muslims of Pakistan consider all Christians of Pakistan as their countrymen and when the government of Pakistan will abolish all discriminatory and blasphemy laws against Christians and the international world should urge Pakistan to declare itself as a secular state so that everyone will be able to practice its religion freely. The name Islamic Republic of Pakistan is not acceptable and we will continue opposing it unless it becomes a secular state officially.

Update About Hector Aleem's Hearing - 15/09/2010

Dear supporters of Hector Aleem,

Nothing happened in today's hearing because our lawyer didn't appear on today's hearing
We are more deserving than any other flood victim. They lost their house and everything because of natural disaster but we have lost everything of ours because of nothing. I just hate it. Why people are donating them who wont even appreciate because they consider it KAFIR (infidel) MONEY but we are Christians and waiting for help for two years but nobody came forward. I thank every body who has donated but still we need lots of money because of our lawyer, I asked lots of organisations but nobody agreed I am very sure if we were Muslims all these organisations would have helped us 100 times. people are donating these flood victims in millions but nobody can donate us $5000, we dont have much to eat but still we say that our father should be out we dont need money for anything else but I think people are heartless. We have paid our lawyer $1000 and unlimited to his clerk for filing and papers and to him for the gas of his car this amount makes another $1000 and he doesn't considers it as fee but only expenses for him but he didn't appear in court in today's hearing because he want all money together. Even our own church didn't help us. I get $1,$2 or $5 and sometimes $50 or $100 which is very rare. What can this amount do? A sister is helping us in collecting donations and I know she is having too much trouble even from her own Church and I asked another brother to request people for donation on his group but he refused because he said telling people to collect money will lessen his readers and members, they all will leave the group immediately. People can spend $15 or $20 in buying useless Shane Dawson or Shay Tard shirts or buy farmville or mafia wars cash but they can't help someone who's life is in risk. We are living in this difficult country that we cannot even do jobs. But nobody even arranged any asylum for us.


Regards

Mehwish Aleem

Pakistan and Legalized Religious Persecution (By Ali Sina)

Taken From Jihad Watch>>>

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/08/ali-sina-pakistan-and-legalized-religious-persecution.html

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Pakistan and Legalized Religious Persecution
by Ali Sina

Imagine one evening you hear a knock on the door. When you open it, a group of armed men with police uniforms enter your house, beat you and handcuff you. Your wife and children are terrorized, but they are told to shut up or they too will be beaten.

Thoughts rush to your mind. You try to figure out what did you do to deserve this treatment. You have been an upright citizen all your life. In fact you have been a human rights activist and have received an award for your services. You have been a respected speaker. Could all this be a mistake?

You ask the officers about the charges. Their response sends chill down your spine. You are being accused of blasphemy. You are a non-Muslim living in a Muslim majority country and all it takes for you to lose your freedom, job, friends, social standing and even life is for someone to report to authorities that you have spoken opprobriously of Muhammad and hence have injured the religious sensitivity of Muslims.

This is the nightmare that minorities in Islamic countries face. The charge does not have to be true. It could be that someone owes you money and he wants to get rid of you. It could be that someone offered to buy your land, which you refused to sell at the price he was offering. Or maybe someone does not like you because you are a human rights activist fighting for the rights of the oppressed minorities.

Abuses such as this happen on daily basis in Pakistan. More than two years ago, it was the turn of Hector Aleem. Aleem was taken to custody. He was brutally beaten by the police and thrown in a prison cell.

In Pakistan, if you are accused of blasphemy you are guilty until proven otherwise. But to prove your innocence it takes years and thousands of dollars. The lawyers' fee is exorbitant, whereas the wages in Pakistan are extremely low.

Aleem's family has spent all its wealth in legal fees to prove the innocence of their father. Hector's wife earns the meager salary of a nurse. The two elder daughters work but there are five mouths to feed and the legal fee is eating up everything they earn.

More than a year ago, when the case went to the court for the first time, the prosecutor, himself a mullah, did not find enough evidence against Aleem to support his charges. However, he warned the judge that should he release Aleem, the angry mob huddled inside and outside the court may kill him and the judge also may not fare better. This is exactly what happened on July 19 of this year to two Christian brothers, who were gunned down by Muslim militants when they left the court under police custody after a trial hearing in Faisalabad city, Punjab province.

So, Aleem was sent back to jail to face more beating in the hands of his jail keepers. They even told him that they would kill him before setting him free. Aleem's family appealed the court's ruling and a second hearing was arranged. This is where we are at now. The new lawyer is confident, but of course he has to be paid first and his fees are beyond what this impoverished family can afford.

A kind man from Australia has offered to sponsor Hector Aleem and provide him with a working visa. But first Aleem must be released. More than $7000 dollars are needed just for the legal fees. This is a large sum for a nurse with four children. Mehwish, Aleem's older daughter, has set up a paypal account for those who want to help. Here is the account: http://tinyurl.com/hectoraleem. Please click on it and pay generously. This is Mehwish's email address: Mehwishaleem@gmail.com.

The blasphemy law is an affront to human rights. It is devised to legally persecute the minorities. Even if you are not guilty you'll be annihilated before you prove your innocence. The objective of the blasphemy law is to get rid of the minorities by incriminating them one by one.

Isn't it time for the governments of the free world to demand Pakistan to put an end to legalized religious persecution? Pakistan is recipient of large sums of aids from the western countries and particularly from USA. But its only contributions are to persecute the minorities and to produce terrorists.

Please contact your member of parliament, your congressman and the senators in your country and ask them to demand the release of Hector Aleem and to raise the issue of human rights abuses in Pakistan. It is time for the European Parliament, the US congress and the Parliaments in Canada and Australia to condemn the blasphemy law and demand its immediate repeal.

It is a shame that the same governments that swiftly pass laws to protect Muslims against criticism of Islam, find no courage to stand up for the human rights of minorities in Islamic countries. Aren't human rights more important than beliefs? Where is the outcry of the parliamentarians, presidents and prime ministers of the free world vis-à-vis these human rights abuses?

Please spread the world about the plight of Hector Aleem. Here is his support page on Facebook.

Also, please contact the Pakistani embassy in your country as well as the following Pakistani authorities, by phone or by email and express your concern about the dismal human rights in that country. Demand the immediate release of Hector Aleem and the repeal of the blasphemy law. God does not need humans to defend him. The blasphemy law is legalization of persecution. It has no place in any civilized society and no civilized country should tolerate it anywhere. Your government has no right to send your tax money to a pariah country like Pakistan that has a law to persecute minorities.

Below is the list of the authorities to contact.

1.ppp@comsats.net.pk

2.Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
Telephone: 051-9220581-9220600
Fax: 051-9213452

3. secretarygeneral@president.gov.pk

4.chairman@ppp.org.pk

5. Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani
Prime minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister House, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9221596
E-mail: webmaster@infopak.gov.pk

6. Federal Minister of Law
Justice and Human Rights
S Block, Pakistan Secretariat, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 920 2628
E-mail: minister@molaw.gov.pk

7. Mr. Rehman Malik
Advisor for Ministry of Interior
Room No. 404, 4th Floor, R Block,
Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 920 2624
Tel: +92 51 921 2026
E-mail: minister@interior.gov.pk

8. Mr. Mian Shahbaz Sharif
Chief Minister of Punjab
H-180 Model Town, Lahore
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 5881383

9. Minister of Law
Government of Punjab
Punjab Secretariat
Ravi Road
Lahore
PAKISTAN
E-mail: law@punjab.gov.pk

10. Chief Secretary of Government of Punjab
Punjab Secretariat
Lahore
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 7324489
E-mail: chiefsecy@punjab.gov.pk

11. Dr. Faqir Hussain
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9213452
E-mail: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk

12. Mr. Syed Hamid Saeed Kazmi
Minister for Religious Affairs
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9214856 / 9206982
Fax: +92 51 9213593
E-mail: mra.hajj@gmail.com