SAHIWAL: Both the federal and the provincial governments are indifferent to the welfare and security of the Christian community living in Punjab and other parts of the country, said Rufus Solomon, Christian leader of the opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Addressing a gathering of the Christian community at Clarkabad village on Sunday, Rufus Solomon said that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) bias against Christians was a known fact.
“The Muslim majority continues to perpetrate violence against Christians and other religious minorities in the name and under the protection of the blasphemy laws yet the PML-N government continues to look on as a silent spectator,” he said, adding that killing of Christians, rape of Christian women, enforced conversion and allegations of blasphemy rise whenever the PML-N comes into power.
Solomon said that the PML-N has always rallied behind religious parties to consolidate the rightwing vote bank which has encouraged extremists to use the blasphemy laws with impunity to persecute Christians.
“Even Muslims are not safe from the blasphemy laws,” Solomon said, referring to the gruesome lynching of a Mardan University student, Mashal Khan, by a vigilante mob in April over blasphemy charges, the murder of a blasphemy accused in Sialkot and mob violence against a mentally challenged Muslim man on similar accusations in Chitral.
The PTI leader said that after Mashal Khan’s killing the National Assembly passed a resolution calling for amending the blasphemy law to include strong safeguards to help prevent its misuse, while the Senate called for amending the statutes to provide punishments to those who concoct blasphemy accusations against others.
“These back-to-back incidents should have been an eye-opener for the government that no one is safe from these laws, and it is about time that the State moves to set things right. But like always, the PML-N government is again silent on the issue and no action is being taken to stop the misuse of the blasphemy laws,” he said.
Solomon also called for the immediate release of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman on death row over alleged blasphemy since 2010.
“Seven years have passed since our Christian sister is in prison over false charges. Even though her appeal is pending in the Supreme Court for nearly a year now, no judge is willing to take it up. I appeal the apex court to release Asia Bibi on bail until the time it takes up her appeal so that she is able to return to her family,” he said.
Encouraging the youth to pursue higher education, Solomon said that only education could help Pakistani Christians in salvaging their dignity in the eyes of the Muslim majority.
“Christian youth must regain the lost dignity of the Christian community by achieving professional excellence through education and reclaiming their due share in all walks of life that will take them to top positions in the government and private sectors and in the civil society,” he said.
“Unfortunately the Christian community has very seldom had good leadership that was sincere in its efforts towards their prosperity and welfare. Religious leadership combined with political leadership is foremost for guaranteeing protection of the rights. Unfortunately, the self-proclaimed Christian leaders and political representatives have either remained unaware or unconcerned of the issues being faced by the community,” he said, adding that he had entered politics with a mission to fill the vacuum created by detrimental majority dominated policies and wanted more able Christians to join this mission.
