Author:
Publication: AsiaNews
Date: May 10, 2004
URL: http://www.asianews.it/view_p.php?l=en&art=763
New incident reveals frightening
trend
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.
