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April 2002 |
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WINDOW ON UK / EUROPE |
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Seeking protection for Christians in Pakistan By Subroto Mukherjee GlobalomNet Media Service
Christian groups in Britain are seeking help from the British and other European governments for the protection of Christians in Pakistan. “Nothing less will do if we want to save the lives and the honour of Christians living in Pakistan,” said Derek O’Connor, a missionary who has worked in Pakistan. Several Christian groups will come together in the course of this week to make a representation to the British government and to the European Union, O’Connor said. “We are very concerned for the Christian population of Pakistan,” Malcolm McGregor from the group Serving in Mission said, “here have been several attacks on Christians over the past few months.” The group has been working for several years among Christians in Pakistan. The British government has already expressed shock over the attack on the Church. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in a statement Sunday: “I am deeply shocked to hear this news. I am keeping in close touch with our High Commissioner in Islamabad.” Straw said: “I want to express my condolences on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government to the families of those who have been killed and to all those who have been injured.” One member of an Evangelical group said that in Pakistan “we are fighting those who break the law and those who keep the law.” In a court of law, a Christian man’s testimony is worth half of a Muslim man’s and a Christian woman’s testimony is worth only a quarter. That is often used to convict innocent Christians, he said. Christian groups here say that between 1990 and 1998 at least five Christians were murdered after being charged with blasphemy. Persecution is occurring in Pakistan on a routine basis, say Christians who have been engaged in missionary work in Pakistan.
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