Christians in Faisalabad on high alert after murder of two pastors

The Christian community in Faisalabad remains tense after the murder on Monday of two pastors accused of committing blasphemy.

Brothers Rashid and Sajid Emmanuel were shot dead by masked gunmen as they left a courtroom in the city yesterday, despite being under police escort. A policeman was wounded in the attack before the gunmen fled the scene.

Rashid and Sajid had just left court following a hearing in connection with blasphemy charges made against them earlier in the month. The two were accused by Muslim radicals of writing a pamphlet which included blasphemous statements against the Muslim Prophet Muhammad – a crime punishable by death in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti admitted to the Associated Press that he thought the charges against the pastors had been falsely made.

He told the news agency: "I personally don't think that anyone who wrote derogatory things against Muhammad would put their names on the bottom. This was just to settle a personal issue."

Local sources told the Centre for Legal Aid and Assistance (CLAAS), a charity supporting persecuted Christians in Pakistan, that three people had been arrested by police in connection to the murders.

Yesterday, relatives of the victims met the chief of police in Faisalabad, Syed Tahir Hussain, local church leaders, legal advisers and local assembly member Amir Joel Sahotra.

The brothers of the two pastors admitted they were too fearful for their safety at present to register a case against the suspects, so a case has been registered at present against ‘unknown persons’ - in Pakistan it is the responsibility of the victim or the victim’s relatives to file a charge with the police against the suspects.

Nasir Saeed, the co-ordinator of CLAAS’ UK office, called for the blasphemy laws to be repealed.

"We utterly condemn the murder of Rashid and Sajid," he said.

"It is incomprehensible that the police escorting them from court failed in their duty to protect them.

"Their deaths leave us all the more concerned for the safety of other Christians facing blasphemy charges at present.

"It is imperative that the Pakistani Government repeal the blasphemy laws and put an end to the brutal persecution of Christians they encourage.”

Local sources told CLAAS that there is a heavy police presence in the Christian areas of Waris Pura, Daud Nagar and Barkat Pura, and that the Christians remain “very tense”.

There were reports of a crowd of Christians coming out onto the streets on Monday in angry protest against local councillor Mushtaq Insari, who has been vocal in his opposition to Christians in the last week. They blame him for the murder of the two pastors.

Some of the Christians vandalised Muslim shops situated in the Christian area before the protesters were reportedly fired upon by Mushtaq’s sons as they approached his home. Several are believed to have been injured and Mushtaq’s sons were detained by police.

CLAAS lawyer Illyas Javaid, who was present at yesterday’s meeting, said a crowd of around 2,000 Muslim extremists had come together after calls had gone out over the loudspeakers of local mosques. The crowd is believed to have opened fire on Christians and set four Christian shops on fire before police threw tear gas to bring the situation under control.

Muslim extremists have registered a case with police against local Christians. CLAAS believes this is an attempt to stop police investigating them.