From Rev. Jerry Drino:
August 3, 2009
Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States of America
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 205500
Dear Mr. President,
In your speech to the Muslim world in Cairo on June 4, 2009 you said, “Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small, but potent minority of Muslims.” It is true and now this “Potent minority of Muslims” is actually becoming a large majority of extremists conducting violent acts against innocent human beings. After 9/11, the United State’s forces attacked the centers of tyranny of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants in Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden issued a fatwa: “If one Muslim is killed in Afghanistan, two Christians will be killed in Pakistan.” Since then, Christians have been systematically targeted in places of their worship and in Christian schools and hospitals. On October 29, 2001 four gunmen entered St. Dominic’s Church, Bahawalpur and started shouting: “Pakistan and Afghanistan, graveyard of Christians. Allah is Great. This is just the start.” They opened fire and mercilessly killed 17 Christians. Senseless killing of Christians has continued in Pakistan. A culture of Islamic militancy against Christians now flourishes and the small Christian minority lives under harassment and constant fear. In the last few months attacks on the Christian community have escalated.
The justification for the attacks on Christians is based of the draconian Blasphemy Law section 295 –B and 295-C passed in 1982 by the Pakistani National Assembly. These two laws make anyone deemed to have insulted the holy prophet of Islam or dishonored Holy Qur’an are liable for capital punishment and life imprisonment and fines. In its selective application, it has provided a pretext for private vendettas, but its victims almost always have been Christians.
Let me share with you few examples of the last few weeks:
June 30, one hundred Christian homes were set on fire in Bahmaniwala village in Kasur district. People still there remain without shelter and livelihood.
July 31, the Christian community in the village of Korian near Gojra in Punjab province was attacked by thousands of Muslims who accused Christians of desecrating the pages of Qur’an. Christians brought this matter to the Muslim elders for assistance. However, the Muslim Imam made announcements that Christian infidels needed to be taught a lesson. A large group of Muslims gathered from neighboring villages to protect the honor of their faith and to take revenge. Christians then heard the Imam, calling from the mosque’s loud speaker, for the faithful to attack Christian homes. The Christians fled to the nearby fields. Soon after the announcement, Christian homes were attacked. Their homes were looted and set on fire by Muslim militants. In addition, the Muslim mob blocked roads to stop police or fire responders to assist the assaulted community. Christians in Krian have lost all possessions, their livelihood and cattle. Yet, there is no official accounting of the loss of human lives as Christians are still hiding and afraid to return to their village.
August 1, continued the violence when thousands of Muslim Militants gathered in the nearby town of Gojra, seven miles from the village of Korian. In Gojra there is a small colony of several hundred Christian families. Two hundred Muslim militants, covering their faces and holding semi- automatic weapons, supported the several thousand who attacked the Christian colony. The attackers looted more than 100 homes and set them on fire. Witnesses reported that when Christian women begged to spare their children and homes, the attackers opened fire and killed four women, a man and a child. The leaders of the Christian community fear that more bodies will be discovered after police search the burned homes.
The British Broadcast Company reports that the local officials have confirmed that the rumor of desecration of Holy Qur’an was false. The Federal Minority Minister of Pakistan Government has accused police of negligence and failure to protect minority community.
The Rt. Rev. John Samuel, Bishop of Faisalabad who resides in Gojra, in a telephone conversation, told me, “We are in great distress and helpless. We have no protection and resources to help our Christian community. Today I saw the homes of our church members being destroyed and Christians being shot. Please pray for God’s mercy and protection for us.”
In the Province of North West Frontiers, Christians were issued written notices to leave or convert to Islam. Two weeks ago I visited Pakistani and Indian Christians in the Greater San Francisco area. I met a man in his late fifties who recently came to the United States from Pakistan. He informed me that his family had to sell their ancestral home of more than 100 years for a very low price and leave as their lives were in great danger.
Knowledge of these attacks stems from my personal connections; however, many additional accounts of violence can be verified, also.
The violence continues and innocent people die daily. We cannot remain mere spectators as basic human rights to practice freely one’s faith are violated. The United States has always advocated for the rights of the weak, defenseless and oppressed. In your speech in Cairo to the Muslim world, you clearly articulated the right to the free exercise of one’s faith. You said,
“Freedom in America is indivisible from the freedom to practice one's religion. That is why there is a mosque in every state and over 1,200 mosques within our borders. That is why the U.S. government has gone to court to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab and to punish those who would deny it.”
The cause for such attacks is direct result of the presence of the United States forces in Afghanistan. These Militants equate this to a war between Islam and Christianity. Christians in Pakistan are an easy target for revenge, and those in Pakistan are the poorest community and are targeted victims of the fatwa and blasphemy law.
Mr. President, I beg your attention to plead for the cause of the poor, defenseless and persecuted minority community of Christians in Pakistan. May I suggest the following measures United States government to consider?
1. The State Department, in collaboration with churches and North American Islamic Society, should form a High level deputation to visit Pakistan.
2. The United States Embassy in Islamabad-Pakistan should be instructed to grant asylum visas to Christians whose lives are threatened by the blasphemy law.
3. The President of the United States should ask the Islamic Government of Pakistan to repeal of sections of 295 and 295- B and 295-C of Pakistan Penal Code, the draconian blasphemy law. This law is the basis for the rising tide of intolerance, militancy and oppression against Christians in Pakistan.
4. United States Aid to Pakistan for refugees and displaced should also be given to those who have lost their homes and lives because of the militancy of Islamic extremists in the North West Frontier Province.
Mr. President, I beg you to hear the cry of the suffering minority in Pakistan. I speak in the name of humanity to seek justice and peace. I am plainly asking you to advocate for the defenseless. You are a man whom God has blessed with a spirit of reconciliation. Your desire is to bring people of different faiths together to build a world of peace and harmony. You have encouraged Muslims, Christians and Jews to come together. In Cairo you said, “Indeed, faith should bring us together. That is why we are forging service projects in America that bring Christians, Muslims, and Jews together.
There are thousands of Pakistani Christians who are citizens of the United States who beg for your help. We believe in inter-faith harmony. I have personally dedicated my life to bridge building between the Abrahamaic faith communities. Religious persecution, wherever it occurs, diminishes us all, and demands more than finger-wagging in response. I sincerely pray that God shall use you to bring an end to the persecution of Christians in Pakistan.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you very much for your concern.
Yours truly,
The Rev. Canon Patrick P. Augustine, D.Min.
Rector
Christ Episcopal Church
111 North 9th Street
La Crosse, Wisconsin
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