In the Pakistani city of Faisalabad, two Christian evangelists have paid the supreme price for their vibrant evangelistic ministries. Pastor Rashid Emmanuel (32) and his 30 year old brother Sajid Masih Emmanuel were taken into police custody on July 2 following allegations by local Moslems that the two had authored some hand-written manuscript that denigrated the Islamic prophet. Even though the Christian evangelists denied the allegation, and handwriting experts confirmed that the manuscript did not match their handwritings, they remained in police custody. Even a high governmental official publicly expressed his doubts that anybody would write such a manuscript and put their real names as was being alleged in this case. In Pakistan such an offence attracts the death penalty.
However, especially following the instigation of some mosques on Friday 16th July that Christian houses should be burnt over the matter, it probably was not so easy for the police to release the men. As the police took the Christian evangelists, handcuffed, to court on Monday 19th July, five masked men stepped forward outside the court building and shot the two brothers dead, right in the custody of the police!
Police later hurriedly effected an early-morning burial for the two, apparently to forestall violence that could follow an elaborate burial. Some eye witnesses told Worthy News that they saw torture marks on the bodies of the two Christians suggesting they had been subjected to torture while in police custody. The two brothers were members of the Mission Group United Ministries, Pakistan. Even as at this moment, several other Christians are languishing in police custody in Pakistan on the allegation of blasphemy – which is fast becoming an effective way of settling land and similar disputes, when your opponent is a Christian. In Vol 11 No 1, we reported the resulting mayhem and massive destructions in Bauchi State, NIGERIA, when a love-seeking muslim suitor turned round to accuse of blasphemy, the Christian lady who had rejected his advances. (http://churcharise.blogspot.com/2008/02/again-muslim-riot-claims-3-lives-in.html)
For further details and follow-up on the story from Pakistan, check www.WorthyNews.com
No comments:
Post a Comment