Lily
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Post by Lily on Aug 20, 2012 17:25:02 GMT -5
OMG! This poor kid.  "ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A young Christian girl with Down’s Syndrome has been arrested in Pakistan for desecrating Koran, according to reports. The girl, believed to be as young as 11, was arrested for violating the country’s strict blasphemy laws after a mob surrounded her house and accused her of burning pages of the Koran. The arrest of the girl and outrage among the local community demonstrates the deep emotion that suspected blasphemy cases can evoke in this conservative Muslim country, where rising extremism often means religious minorities live in fear of persecution. In Pakistan, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, or holy book, the Koran, can be sentenced to death, although they’re rarely if ever executed." news.nationalpost.com/2012/08/20/christian-girl-with-downs-syndrome-arrested-in-pakistan-for-desecrating-koran-reports/ |
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Lily
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Post by Lily on Aug 27, 2012 13:01:39 GMT -5
"Last weekend's arrest and imprisonment of Rimsha Masih, an 11-year old Christian girl, by Pakistani authorities in the nation's capital, Islamabad, on charges of blasphemy, is deeply alarming. The girl, whose mental stability is doubtful, will certainly face death sentence according to the Pakistani law if she is found guilty of disrespecting or burning Islamic text. While the poor terrified girl awaits appearance before a court by the end of this month, President Asif Ali Zardari has ordered an immediate inquiry into this perturbing episode. The president's intervention is not likely to serve as a breakthrough nor is it going to lead to the swift release of the girl. Sentiments among devout Pakistani Muslims in the wake of the alleged burning of the religious text are so charged that the poor girl urgently needs official protection from Muslim hooligans. Based on the past experiences, one can foresee that extremists will kill the girl if they are provided access to her. On July 4, 2012, an enraged mob of several thousand people forcefully pulled out a man from a police lock-up in the largest province of Punjab and burnt him alive on the road because he had allegedly disrespected the Muslim holy book, the Quran. The situation is not very different in Ms. Masih's case." www.huffingtonpost.com/malik-siraj-akbar/pakistans-blasphemy-law-c_b_1820601.html |
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Lily
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Post by Lily on Sept 2, 2012 12:54:49 GMT -5
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Lily
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Posts: 2,197
Joined: May 2011
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Post by Lily on Sept 4, 2012 14:10:29 GMT -5
"The Christian girl who was allegedly framed for blasphemy by her local mullah has been hailed as a "daughter of the nation" by one of Pakistan's most senior Islamic clerics, who also vowed to guarantee her safety if she is eventually released from prison. The heavyweight support for Rimsha Masih from the chairman of the All Pakistan Ulema Council, a grouping of Islamic clerics, is being seen as a remarkable turn of events in a country where individuals accused of insulting Islam are almost never helped by powerful public figures. In a fiery press conference at a central Islamabad hotel, Hafiz Mohammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, flanked by other senior clerics, demanded all the organs of the Pakistani state come together to investigate the circumstances surrounding the arrest last month of a girl who it is claimed has Down's syndrome. He also lambasted Hafiz Mohammed Khalid Chishti, the imam from the Mehrabadi slum neighbourhood on the edge of Islamabad, who was accused over the weekend of tampering with evidence in order to ensure the girl's conviction. "Our heads are bowed with shame for what Chishti did," Ashrafi said." www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/03/christian-girl-senior-pakistani-cleric-blasphemyThis is a good thing for that poor girl. I'm frankly amazed that she's still in prison! The international pressure must be fierce, and now the top Muslim clerics have thrown their weight behind it as well. I mean what kind of country throws children in jail? And this one has Downs Syndrome to boot. Even if she had trashed the Koran, (which she didn't) who could, under the circumstances, hold her responsible? |
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Lily
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Joined: May 2011
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Post by Lily on Sept 9, 2012 20:27:16 GMT -5
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