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Pakistan: Leading Shi’ite cleric arrested based on
new blasphemy law
SEP 19, 2023 1:00 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER
The new law “punishes those who disrespect ‘the Prophet’s wives, family, close companions, and the Righteous Caliphs.'” That would be the Shi’ites, some of whom disrespect Aisha, Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman, because they opposed the Shi’ites’ hero, Ali ibn Abi Talib.
Here We Are: Leading Shiite Cleric Arrested in Pakistan Based on New Blasphemy Law
by Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter, September 6, 2023:
…After a test case against a Sunni retired teacher, Pakistan amended last month Article 298-A of its Criminal Code, which is part of its blasphemy laws and punishes those who disrespect “the Prophet’s wives, family, close companions, and the Righteous Caliphs.” The penalty passed from one month to three years in jail to a minimum of ten years to life imprisonment, plus a fine of one million rupees….
A prominent Shiite cleric, Agha Baqir al-Hussaini, was arrested in Skardu, the largest city in the Gilgit-Baltistan region.
He had presided a meeting in mid-August denouncing the new law and stating that Shiites cannot and will not renounce their criticism of those relatives and companions of the Prophet who denied Ali’s succession. As a result, on August 22, local Sunnis took to the street demanding his arrest.
The Shiite cleric was arrested at the end of August….
Pakistan is the second most populous Muslim country in the world. Indonesia is first. 96.5% of Pakistanis are Muslim, 75 -95% of those are Sunni, and the remainder mostly Shi'ite. Technically, Pakistan is open to all religions and to the propagation of those religions, however, non-Muslims are treated very poorly and despised. Now, with this new blasphemy law, it appears Pakistan is trying to drive out Shi'ite Muslims.
Genesis 16:12 - "He will be a wild donkey of a man, and his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”
In Another Attack On Ahmadis, Radical Islamists
Demolish Minarets of Worship Places in Pakistan
PTI, September 18, 2023:
In a fresh attack on the Ahmadi community in Pakistan, the minarets of three worship places of the minority group in different districts of Punjab province were demolished by radical Islamists who alleged that the minarets signified that of a Muslim mosque.
Ahmadiyya, officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at, is an Islamic revival or messianic movement originating in Punjab, British India, in the late 19th century.
The incident comes more than a week after arches of a worship place of the Ahmadi community were destroyed in defiance of a high court order banning such actions against the places of worship of the minority community built before 1984.
Pakistan’s Parliament in 1974 declared the Ahmadi community as non-Muslims. They have even been banned from calling themselves Muslims.
“Identifying the minarets of Ahmadi worship places with that of Muslim Mosque, the activists of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) stormed into three Ahmadi worship places in Sheikhupura, Bahawalnagar and Bahawalpur districts of Punjab and demolished their minarets during the last couple of days,” Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan official Amir Mahmood told PTI on Monday….
“As the TLP stormed into these three Ahmadi worship places, the police did nothing to prevent it….
Taliban detains American and 17 others in Afghanistan for
‘propagating and promoting Christianity'
by Alyssa Guzman, New York Post, September 16, 2023:
The Taliban raided the offices of a Swiss nonprofit group based in Afghanistan, detaining 18 workers – including one American – for allegedly preaching Christianity, the country’s government said.
The International Assistance Mission (IAM) confirmed Friday that the Taliban stormed its office in Ghor – located 400 miles outside of Kabul – on September 3 and 13 and took away nearly 20 workers.
Three members, including the American, were taken in the first raid and the 15 others were taken 10 days later….
Pakistan, Police to Christian Churches: ‘Hire Private Guards,
We Cannot Protect You'
by Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter, September 15, 2023:
August was one of the worst months in recent years for the number of assaults to Christian churches in Pakistan, with dozens of places of worship burned or demolished.
Besides arresting Christians for having allegedly provoked the rioters, the Pakistani police has now found a solution for this crisis, and a simple one.
Having inspected an area of Karachi notorious for sectarian conflict, and visited places of worship of different religions, the police issued on September 10, 2023, “Security Directions for Churches” (mosques are not mentioned).
The police recommends (or rather orders, since “strict compliance” is required), that
“Private security guards be deployed outside the main gate of the church along with metal detector equipment.” Details are as follows: “Private security guard will be deployed on the roof bunker especially made as the backup for gate security. Walk through gates to be installed on the entrances of church. All the windows of churches to be covered with iron grill. CCTVs to be installed inside and outside the premises of churches and must be of great quality such as 6 MP / Night Vision with 15 days minimum back up. Walls of the churches must be fenced properly to avoid any untoward incident.”…
What the document says, in so many words, is that the Pakistani police is not capable or perhaps not willing to protect Christian churches. Christian taxpayers should hire and pay private guards. The police would check who these guards are—perhaps to make sure they are not “too” effective.
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