Submit your comments on this article |
India-Pakistan |
Pakistan Imam Accuses Christian Girl of 'Conspiracy' |
2012-08-25 |
[An Nahar] ![]() Hafiz Mohammed Khalid Chishti, the imam of the mosque in the poor 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 Moslems had not stopped local Christians' "anti-Islam activities" earlier. Rimsha was tossed in the slammer Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! and remanded in jug 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 Moslem holy text. ![]() "The girl who burnt the Koran has no mental illness and is a normal girl," Chishti told Agence La Belle France Presse. "She did it knowingly, this is a conspiracy and not a mistake. She confessed what she did." Under the Islamic republic's strict blasphemy laws, insulting the prophet Mohammed is punishable by death and burning a sacred text by life imprisonment, though rights groups say the legislation is often abused to settle personal vendettas. Chishti claimed the local Christian community had previously caused antagonism by playing music in services at their makeshift church during Moslem 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 Moslems to wake up" and protect the Koran. |
Posted by:Fred |