LAHORE – Minority members of the provincial assembly (MPA) from both the treasury and the opposition benches on Friday protested against the Holy Quran’s desecration by US Pastor Terry Jones and labeled him a terrorist. They also demanded a formal apology from the US and urged the federal government to summon the US ambassador to Pakistan and seek an explanation on the issue. The minority MPAs were wearing black armbands and said that the incident had brought a bad name for all Christians.
Legislators including Tahir Khalil Sindhu, Punjab Finance Minister Kamran Michael and Amer Joel Sahotra staged a walkout from the House after delivering speeches. Michael declared Jones’ step as a stride of a fanatic. Engineer Shahzad Elahi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) also expressed his sentiments against Jones’ act, which had hurt not only Muslims but basic Christian teachings as well. He said that the US claimed to be the champion of human rights and termed others as terrorists and extremists while it should also declare Johns as a terrorist.
Sindhu said that Jones was arrested in Germany in a theft case and had no value among Christians, which could be judged with the fact that only 32 people were present with him at time of the “evil act”. He asked the federal government to raise the issue at the ongoing session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. MPA Pervaiz Rafique Bhatti urged the US government to take action against the US pastor.
