Pakistan imam saved Christian girl from violence

[BLACKEAGLE]

The Pakistani cleric who handed over a young Christian girl to police on blasphemy charges in a poor suburb of Islamabad claimed Friday he did so to protect her from mob violence.

Police arrested the girl, Rimsha, who reportedly has Down’s Syndrome, in a low-income neighborhood of the capital last Thursday after she was accused of burning papers containing verses from the Koran, and remanded her in custody for 14 days.

The imam of the local mosque, Hafiz Khalid Chishti, insisted the girl was fully aware of what she was doing, calling it a “conspiracy and not a mistake.”

Rimsha, aged between 11 and 16, is being held in a jail in Islamabad’s twin city Rawalpindi, and her case has prompted concern from Western governments and fury from rights campaigners.

Chishti said on the day of the incident he went to the girl’s home after people showed him the papers she had burned, and he found a crowd outside and three or four Muslim women attacking the youngster.

“Some women were beating her and other people were trying to break her arms when I rescued her,” Chishti told AFP.

Chishti, who leads the prayer in the mosque and was the first one contacted by the villagers to take action against Rimsha, said he avoided a major violence incident by handing her over to police.

“People were demanding to burn their house, but I went to police and called them to avoid a major incident,” he said.

The cleric said the girl was 14 years old and was fully mentally capable.

“She did it knowingly, this is a conspiracy and not a mistake. she confessed what she did,” he said.

Around 97 percent of Pakistan’s 180 million population are Muslim and the country’s tiny Christian minority has long suffered discrimination and poverty.

Debate is growing about the blasphemy laws, which make defaming Islam or desecrating the Koran in theory punishable by death, with rights groups warning the legislation is frequently abused to settle personal vendettas.
Pakistan imam claims he saved Christian girl from violence

 

[PERSIAN GOD KING]

Did you pull you hair out and scream "Infidel lover" when you first saw this?

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Did you pull you hair out and scream "Infidel lover" when you first saw this?

I love Christians as a matter of fact and I believe they are the closest to Islam, my friend is Christian and my dentist as well who named his two sons Omar and Faisal as he has great respect for King Faisal and Omar Bin Al-Khattab.

 

[Hyde]

PKG please do not derail the thread by pointless statement

Blackeagle please refrain reply back to such posts and do not quote the troll post

@ topic

14 year old girl is still a child and if the intention of Imam was to avoid bigger violence it should be appreciated but at the same time he persisted on claiming the girl to be mature enough to distinguish between right and wrong which I believe makes me think as if he is scared after the President took notice of act and he is just trying to save himself from any potential trial against him.

 

[ajtr]

humanity never dies irrespective of religions.

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

PKG please do not derail the thread by pointless statement

Blackeagle please refrain reply back to such posts and do not quote the troll post

@ topic

14 year old girl is still a child and if the intention of Imam was to avoid bigger violence it should be appreciated but at the same time he persisted on claiming the girl to be mature enough to distinguish between right and wrong which I believe makes me think as if he is scared after the President took notice of act and he is just trying to save himself from any potential trial against him.

Why did you suppose that he did save her because he was afraid and not his conscience and Islam teachings told him to?

humanity never dies irrespective of religions.

Not only humanity, there is nothing in Islam tell you to kill non-Muslims for showing disrespect to Islam, especially when he/she is a child. Those mobs are a bunch of uneducated people.

 

[Fekay]

Good on the Imam if his intention were true... religious intolerance is becoming a real problem in Pakistan, and for this, radical measures should be put in place! The root cause, as always, is lack of education. When a decent standard of education can't be provided to the masses, it leaves a population of naive and impressionable people easily victim to radicalization.

Unless the real problem is addressed, it's just like removing weeds. It'll grow back fast, and in greater numbers...

 

[Xestan]

Eventually, I think the girl will be released by the court. The problem lies with our society, our blasphemy laws are well in place. It's just these Jaahil people who don't understand Islam and still act like its care-takers.

 

[foxbat]

Tribune has a different perspective on this

Imam accuses Christian girl of ‘conspiracy’ – The Express Tribune

ISLAMABAD: A cleric who handed over a young Christian girl to police on blasphemy charges after she burned papers containing Quranic verses said Friday what she did was a “conspiracy” to insult Muslims.


Hafiz Mohammed Khalid Chishti, the imam of the mosque in the Islamabad suburb of Mehrabad, insisted he had saved the girl, Rimsha, from mob violence by handing her to police but said the incident arose because Muslims had not stopped local Christians’ “anti-Islam activities” earlier.

Rimsha was arrested and remanded in custody for a fortnight last Thursday after being accused of burning pages from a children’s religious instruction book, which were inscribed with verses from the Muslim holy text.
The youngster reportedly has Down’s Syndrome and her treatment has prompted outrage from rights groups and concern from Western governments, but Chishti insisted she was fully aware of what she was doing.

“The girl who burnt the Holy Quran has no mental illness and is a normal girl,” Chishti told AFP.
“She did it knowingly, this is a conspiracy and not a mistake. She confessed what she did.”


Chishti claimed the local Christian community had previously caused antagonism by playing music in services at their makeshift church during Muslim prayer time and said burning the pages was deliberate.
“They committed this crime to insult us further. This happened because we did not stop their anti-Islam activities before,” he said.

“Last Christmas, they played musical instruments and there was vulgarity in the streets during our prayers time. I warned them but they did not stop.”


During his sermon at Friday prayers Chishti told worshippers it was “time for Muslims to wake up” and protect the Holy Quran.
Mehrabad is home to around 500 Christian families but many fled after the page-burning, fearing a repeat of a 2009 incident in Gojra, in which young Muslim radicals burned Christian houses, killing seven, after a rumour that a page from the Holy Quran had been desecrated during a wedding.

Chishti said that on the day of the incident he went to Rimsha’s home after people showed him the papers she had burned, and he found an angry crowd outside and three or four Muslim women attacking her.
“Some women were beating her and other people were trying to break her arms when I rescued her,” he said.
Chishti said the girl confessed to burning the pages and insisted he had averted major violence by handing her over to police.
“People were demanding to burn their house, but I went to police and called them to avoid a major incident,” he said.
“I had the Gojra incident in my mind, when Muslims burnt the whole Christians’ colony. I did not want to repeat that.”
Police have registered a case against more than 150 people for damaging property during the protest after the incident but Chishti insisted nobody from the area was involved.
“I did not invite people to protest against the Christians. The people who protested against the incident were from some other area,” he said.
“The cleric who announced on loud speaker was also from another mosque and he did it outside this village. We have no link to that.”
Rimsha had been due to appear in court to answer charges on Saturday, but investigating police officer Zabihullah and Rimsha’s lawyer Tahir Naveed Chaudhry said the hearing was now expected on August 31.

 

[KingMamba]

Tribune has a different perspective on this

Imam accuses Christian girl of ‘conspiracy’ – The Express Tribune

ISLAMABAD: A cleric who handed over a young Christian girl to police on blasphemy charges after she burned papers containing Quranic verses said Friday what she did was a “conspiracy” to insult Muslims.


Hafiz Mohammed Khalid Chishti, the imam of the mosque in the Islamabad suburb of Mehrabad, insisted he had saved the girl, Rimsha, from mob violence by handing her to police but said the incident arose because Muslims had not stopped local Christians’ “anti-Islam activities” earlier.

Rimsha was arrested and remanded in custody for a fortnight last Thursday after being accused of burning pages from a children’s religious instruction book, which were inscribed with verses from the Muslim holy text.
The youngster reportedly has Down’s Syndrome and her treatment has prompted outrage from rights groups and concern from Western governments, but Chishti insisted she was fully aware of what she was doing.

“The girl who burnt the Holy Quran has no mental illness and is a normal girl,” Chishti told AFP.
“She did it knowingly, this is a conspiracy and not a mistake. She confessed what she did.”


Chishti claimed the local Christian community had previously caused antagonism by playing music in services at their makeshift church during Muslim prayer time and said burning the pages was deliberate.
“They committed this crime to insult us further. This happened because we did not stop their anti-Islam activities before,” he said.

“Last Christmas, they played musical instruments and there was vulgarity in the streets during our prayers time. I warned them but they did not stop.”


During his sermon at Friday prayers Chishti told worshippers it was “time for Muslims to wake up” and protect the Holy Quran.
Mehrabad is home to around 500 Christian families but many fled after the page-burning, fearing a repeat of a 2009 incident in Gojra, in which young Muslim radicals burned Christian houses, killing seven, after a rumour that a page from the Holy Quran had been desecrated during a wedding.

Chishti said that on the day of the incident he went to Rimsha’s home after people showed him the papers she had burned, and he found an angry crowd outside and three or four Muslim women attacking her.
“Some women were beating her and other people were trying to break her arms when I rescued her,” he said.
Chishti said the girl confessed to burning the pages and insisted he had averted major violence by handing her over to police.
“People were demanding to burn their house, but I went to police and called them to avoid a major incident,” he said.
“I had the Gojra incident in my mind, when Muslims burnt the whole Christians’ colony. I did not want to repeat that.”
Police have registered a case against more than 150 people for damaging property during the protest after the incident but Chishti insisted nobody from the area was involved.
“I did not invite people to protest against the Christians. The people who protested against the incident were from some other area,” he said.
“The cleric who announced on loud speaker was also from another mosque and he did it outside this village. We have no link to that.”
Rimsha had been due to appear in court to answer charges on Saturday, but investigating police officer Zabihullah and Rimsha’s lawyer Tahir Naveed Chaudhry said the hearing was now expected on August 31.

Interesting so who has the real story?

 

[Xestan]

Tribune has a different perspective on this

Imam accuses Christian girl of ‘conspiracy’ – The Express Tribune

Everything aside. Funny how Express Tribune changes headlines to get more readership, apparently those readers who wish to see news with such headlines. Just couple of days ago, when I read this article at ET, the headline was as same as the article BLACKEAGLE posted.

Interesting so who has the real story?

Actually, if you read both pieces, you'll realize, both say the same thing, it's just sensational heading given by our 'beloved' news paper, the Express Tribune.