Christians flee slum as scavenger girl is charged with blasphemy

By
Asher John
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44
301

A large number of poor Christian residents of the Mehrabad slum near Islamabad’s G-11 Sector have reportedly fled the area fearing religious violence after an 11-year-old scavenger girl was charged under the blasphemy law two days ago. According to reports, Rimsha, daughter of Misrak Masih and suffering from Down Syndrome, has been charged with allegedly burning pages of a Noorani Qaida, a booklet used to learn the basics of Arabic and the Holy Quran. A case No 303/12 under Section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code was registered against Rimsha at the Ramna Police Station on August 17 after a local man named Al-Syed Muhammad Ammad complained that he had seen the girl burning the Noorani Qaida along with other garbage. Soon after the incident, residents of the area gathered to register their protest. They also blocked the Kashmir Highway and demanded immediate arrest of the 11-year-old. Some of the protesters reportedly beat up Rimsha and her mother, while the rest of the girl’s family managed to escape. The police arrived at the scene and took the girl into custody. She has been sent to the Adiala Jail on judicial remand. According to local sources, over 1,000 Christian residents of the slum have left the area fearing violence as some local religious groups are reportedly threatening to burn down the Christians’ homes. A Christian rights activist, asking not to be named, told Pakistan Today on the phone from Islamabad that they visited Ramna Police Station on Saturday to seek information about the incident, but found the officials there “extremely hostile”. “The duty officer asked us why we wanted to pursue the case,” the activist said. “The girl has desecrated the Holy Quran and has been rightly charged with the crime…you should leave lest the people come for you,” he quoted the duty officer as saying. The activist said that Christian leaders, including Minister In-charge of National Harmony Dr Paul Bhatti were in contact with Muslim religious leaders to prevent any further violence in the area. Dr Bhatti’s phone went unanswered. “A large number of Christians of the slum have sought refuge with their relatives in other areas of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, and it could not be said when they would be able to return to their homes,” said the activist. Officials at the Ramna Police Station told Pakistan Today that the 11-year-old “had admitted to her crime”. “Rimsha admitted that she set the holy pages on fire and a case was registered against her after that; due process of law was followed in the case,” said Muhammad Ahmed, the investigating officer of the case. Section 295-B makes willful desecration of the Holy Quran, or use of an extract in a derogatory manner, punishable with life imprisonment.

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44 COMMENTS

  1. these are not Muslims committing such a heinous crime… how many investigated… Was the girl doing this intentionally or by mistake … ? and how many gave her a chance to repent, if she was doing it intentionally….
    Today Pakistani Muslims have become wild beasts… want blood at every cost… but what they themselves are doing… whole world including, Islamic countries are not ready to accept them as Muslims… we are saints in isolation… we follow the Qur'an but only for our own benefit… what happened in Ramazan-al-Mubarik…. price hiking, hoarding, etc. was this all Islamic.. but we love to do what pleases us…….. shame on you Pakistani Muslims………………. shame on you…

    • Correction.Sick remnants of Maulvi Aziz of Lal Masjid.Well done Supreme Court for sleeping over the case.

  3. Its an 11 year old….WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THIS COUNTRY!!! ITS AN 11 YEAR OLD WITH A DISORDER!!! Where has sanity gone!!!

  4. Its really saddening that Pakistan is now on the verge of self destruction. The extremists such as Zaid Hamid, Hafiz Saeed are creating illusions among their people. How can an 11 year old even know understand what Blasphemy is ?

  6. Whats even more saddening is that the pakistani youth is being misled by people such as Hafiz Saeed, Zaid Hamid. These destructive minds think they can do the impossible…..but still many fears about the nukes getting carried away by the terrorists, which can bring apocalypse soon,

    • This has nothing to do with Hafiz Saeed or Zaid Hamid. Get your facts straight. Hafiz Saeed is among the few ulema who openly speak AGAINST suicide bombings. Its due to the stupid people like you who know nothing but in reality try to be macho of mankind.

      Any such act is condemnable. The 11 year old should be allowed to go and the Christian community has all the right to live wherever they want.

  7. some people can use paper as toilet paper ,because paper is paper,why put in prison,,allah is superman he will punish themself if we belief in holy book,,,let free girl and sleep,,allah will take care, pakisani mullah,police and govt is becoming allah to prosecute people just on hysterically nosense

  8. why would allah need to kill a 11 yr old kid , why does allah feel insecure or threatened by a 11 yr old girl. what is islam hiding, it is such a hideous act, i honestly cannot think of islam as a religion and allah as a god after this

    • This is an indo pak subcontinent phenomenon. You do not hear this in Arab countries. It is the maulvi who is insecure

  10. Lo and behold, the day has come that a so called mighty religion has been bested by an 11 yr old child. Is Islam so frightened that it has to use all its powers to arrest a 11 yr old girl ? Is this the beginning of the end of Islam as we know it, one can only hope. But seriously, what the hell is going on, an 11yr old girl child with down's syndrome arrested for burning a few pages from a book that she has never even heard of. What will this #ss of a religion do next ? Wither away and die, hopefully.

  11. This is not religion but fuc*ing ignorant mulllahs who are spreading hatred. They incite people to make money. This is right time for US to start Droning madrassas so that these mullahs start learning lessons.

  12. To love Allah and his Prophet is to love his people. ” So let not their speech grieve you(Muhammad). Indeed, We know what they conceal and what they declare”

  13. Four Kanas destroyed Pakistan
    1. Kana Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani
    2. Kana General Zia Ul Haq
    3. Kana Mullah Omar
    4. Kana Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry
    Report

  14. Those who are charging this 11 year old child of Blasphemy are making a mockery of Islam and ridiculing this religion.

  15. During Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) time in Mecca, a woman used to throw trash him whenever he passed by her house. One day Prophet (PBUH) walked by her house and nobody threw trash on him. He ask the neighbors about the women who used to throw trash on him. They told her she was sick.. Instead of breathing with relief that nobody was there to throw trash on him, he went to visit the women to ask her about her health. This was the Prophet we claim to endear but don't show compassion like him. This girl who is only 11 and mentally handicapped probably did not know what she was doing. For God's sake she is only 11. And the witness, who authenticated his truthfulness? This seems to be happening all over Pakistan. Right sof minorities are being trampled. A murderer is hailed (instead of being condemned) when he kills a governor who questions the blasphemy laws. Pakistan is becoming an unjust nation. If we look at history, you will see that nations were destroyed not because they did no believe in God but because they failed to uphold justice. As a Pakistani-American I am so concerned about our nation. We keep blaming our leaders for every trouble but have lost our own sense of justice. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) would have never punished this girl. He would have found a way to improve her life so she can can live normally in peace, whether she was Muslim or not. He would have provided with food and medicine and tried to help her family to get out this slum. Muslims in Pakistan should be establishing a fund to help this girl instead burning tires and cars and destroying property.

  16. For God sake, bring some sanity to this country. THIS IS NOT ISLAM. PLEASE DON'T DO THIS IN MY NAME AS A MUSLIM.
    THIS IS A SICK JOKE AND INHUMANE TO CHARGE A GIRL SUFFERING FROM DOWN'S SYNDROME WHO IS JUST 11 YEAR OLD.

  17. Please allow all non muslims to emigrate elsewhere ie if other nations are willing to take them.At least they cannot live without fear even if they live in poverty

  18. 20,000 children denied polio vaccine. 22 shias were killed because they were shias. air base attacked. down syndrome child arrested . are you all mad. Mr zardari do you deserve that presidential palace. Are you politicians are not ashamed of your politics and existence. is Islam so bad that kills its own muslims by muslims. minorities are harassed. is god is not a kind source for solving. then neither we need religion nor God.

  20. Islam was desecreted on every day of Ramazan by Muslim Electronic Media.It was worse than this child's act out of innocense.The so called Maulvis fully participated in this blasphemy marathon yet no one objected.These maulvis; a breed found only in the subcontinent but the most rabid kind found in this Islamic Republic are the people who have brought us to this stage.But they emerged because we did not read and understand Islam and its teachings. The sooner this breed is marginalised through ourselves learning what Quran teaches the better it is. Meanwhile courts need to do their job.

  21. These are the cases where judiciary must be active!! they put the government machinery at the entire nation at halt!!

  22. This is one of the main reason that apart from the West even other Muslim countries hate us.If the 11 yrs old kid is insane then these blood thirty are mad. By the way where is Chief Justice of our frightened Pakistanis.

  23. That incident happened near my home, she was not 11year old girl, she was her mother actually, who burnt complete holy Quran, but i donot know why police has registered FIR against her daughter,,i am confused to read this article

    • your a dirty paki peace of sh-it LIAR ..ROT IN HELL PAKIIIIII you people are soooooooooooo backwards a FREAK OF NATURE!!!!!!!

  24. Let a child be a child yes she does has commited a wrong but let her repent by letting her go free and teach her and all that Islam is a religion of tolerance. Punishment will only wana make her commit such a mistake intentionally. The life and Times of holy Prophet are filled with epic examples of tolerance please follow these examples and let a child be a child. A shild is unaware of laws of the world. Foe lords sake act sainly and let the child go.

  28. what about musharraf and his companions when they ordered for LAAL MASJID where a lot of Qurans were burnt. you gave him Guard of Honor. May Allah help this poor girl.

  30. In One side she is totally illiterate so how she compare either the pages are from Holy Book of Quran or they are ordinary?

    So Just feel that if the complainant sister or daughter were sanded to Jail then how the both will feel?

  31. When Musharraf ordered military action against Laal Masjed, men, women, children and several copies of Quran were burned and destroyed. Was that not blasphemy. What have the mullahs got to say about the role of men like Sh Rasheed, Khursheed Qasuri, Ch Shujaat, Pervaiz Elahi, Sh Waqas, Farooq Sattar, Babar Ghauri, Shaukat Aziz, Khalid Maqbool etc who were important members of his cabinet and supported him openly.

  34. Chief Justice are you sleeping. Whats going on under your blind WATCH ? No action from you shame on you . You are obsessed with Swiss letter only . You are as blind as the Lady of the justice. May you and your kind be punished by Almighty for not taking notice of such matters.

  36. why police and government is not looking at the innocent heart of 11 years old girl.who just does not actually know for what she is getting punished. they have not lived the life of slum. the desire of love,food,resources,eduction never fulfills by anyone of slums.mostly slums gather their food from garbage.rare cases are that slums re educated.how can u blame that she burn the pages with bad aim.how can this nation be so foolish.please for God's sake have mercy upon her. none of the religion says to insult other religion.For GOD'S sake MEDIA PLEASE HELP HER TO GET JUSTICE IN N INNOCENT AGE.

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