| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Pakistan Madrasa Tortures Christian Boy to Death |
| 2004-05-11 |
| Warning: This article might annoy some readers. Outrage at the death of a Catholic boy forced to convert to Islam at the hands of torturous abductors has prompted the Pakistan Catholic Bishop’s Commission of Justice and Peace, to take up the legal case. The Christian youth died of injuries inflicted by a teacher and students at an Islamic school. The National Commission for Justice and Peace declared May 4th that the incident reflects a worrying trend of forced conversions. Javed Anjum, an 18-year-old commerce student was seized by a teacher and students of Jamia Hassan bin Almurtaza Madrasa (an Islamic religious school) on April 17th when he stopped for a drink of water at a nearby tap in Toba Tek Singh, 310 kilometres south of Islamabad. For five days he was tortured until his condition became so serious that the abusers took him to a police station, stating that he had been attempting to steal an electric water pump, and filed a charge of robbery against him. The boy was kept in police custody until April 24th, when he was finally taken for medical treatment. By that time, according to the Bishop’s Commission investigation, it was too late to save him. Anjum died May 2nd, in a nearby Faisalabad hospital, of "renal failure", having also suffered broken ribs and loss of eyesight. According to the Bishop’s Commission, police refused to investigate the cause of Anjum’s injuries, or the allegation against him. Chairman of the Commission, Peter Jacob said on May 7th that officials at the Islamic school tried to create an impression that Anjum was a drug addict, and now local Muslim political leaders are supporting and protecting the school. "It only shows how desperate and aware the perpetrators are of their crime and what they had done, that they tried through various allegations to cover it up." The Bishop’s Commission claimed, "Religious intolerance and discrimination is the reason behind the recent incidents where young non-Muslims were forcibly converted and circumcised." In November another Pakistan Catholic boy, 15-year-old Zeeshan Gill, was abducted by a Muslim classmate and forced to convert. He was threatened and beaten by Islamic clerics and made to attend religious classes at Madrasa Jamia al Qasim al Aloom, an Islamic boarding school. He eventually escaped from his captors, but he and his mother and brother have since been in hiding for fear of death. Beyond its concern for justice in Anjum’s case, the Church’s commission urged the government of the Punjab province to "take long-term steps to root out religious hatred and take timely action against the perpetrators of hate crimes in accordance with the law. We appeal to the federal government to ensure equality of rights and opportunities, which is the only way to build a society based on justice, peace, and human rights," the commission’s statement said. The official teaching of Islam condemns forced conversions of others. They have to say that. Don’t take it seriously. |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #11 Where's the outrage among the press, the Dems, the international NGOs? Oh, wait.... They can't use this to damage George Bush. Never mind. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-05-11 10:47:12 AM |
| #10 This is a true martyr...one who is killed simply because of his Catholic faith. |
| Posted by: jawa 2004-05-11 8:53:18 AM |
| #9 THIS is torture. And not a peep in protest from those screaming about what happened in Iraq. You moral degenerates are UNQUALIFIED to be moral judges, clearly being partial, inconsistent, and clearly motivated by partisan concerns. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2004-05-11 8:35:12 AM |
| #8 Anonymous4617 - you know what will happen if we lose access to 2 millions BPD of oil overnight? We will have hybird cars, fuel cells and oil from Anwar by the end of the week. That's the beauty of a capitalist system. It would be like ripping off a bandaid to us..it would hurt, even bleed, but not for long. As for the Middle East, they have NOTHING left once we make the leap. Back to nomadic dirt farming and selling opium. In the end, they'd be doing us a favor. Ever read The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg? It's their goose that will be cooked if we decrease our dependence on oil. If they help us kick the habit - we'll just get over it sooner, rather than later. In the long run, we'll be better off - even if the short run will indeed be painful. |
| Posted by: B 2004-05-11 8:20:30 AM |
| #7 Odd posting hours..... hmmmm I wonder.. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-05-11 8:06:01 AM |
| #6 George Wahabi Bush, What is it that you want from Bush? Did You want him to invade Saudi Arabia instead of Iraq? If so, please inform yourself as to what the inability of the US to have access to 2 millions BPD of oil in Spare Production Capacity (Saudi's SPC) would do to the economy of the US? Why would you want the US to cut its own throat is beyond my comprenhension! |
| Posted by: Anonymous4617 2004-05-11 6:00:01 AM |
| #5 This didn't happen. Like my Saudi paymasters told me: "Islam is peace." Give a Wahabi a hug. |
| Posted by: George Wahabi Bush 2004-05-11 4:36:47 AM |
| #4 God is Great, God is truly great. I wonder if the only reason they held him that long is that they were trying to contact Hannibal Lechter? Yes I know I am using hyperbole, but nothing else is logical. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-11 2:06:07 AM |
| #3 The official teaching of Islam condemns forced conversions of others It is true, what they omit to say is that on everything you can find a surate disapproving it and another one approving it. And that the ones who prevail are the ones written later, that is the Jihadist ones, written at Medina |
| Posted by: JFM 2004-05-11 1:20:02 AM |
| #2 I'd really like it if someone, somewhere could convince me that large portions of Islam haven't set their hearts on world-wide cultural genocide. Until then, I'll keep on advocating retaliation-in-kind against Islamic shrines should future atrocities happen. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-05-11 1:17:39 AM |
| #1 I bet he was a great kid. I'm sorry. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-05-11 1:01:48 AM |