Rimsha Masih, a Pakistani Christian girl, was arrested on Aug. 17 for allegedly burning pages from the Koran. She has since been released. A Muslim cleric was arrested for fabricating evidence against her, and Pakistan’s noxious blasphemy laws were once again discredited. But Rimsha was not the only victim in the case. Hundreds of her Christian neighbors from Umara Jaffar, a slum near Islamabad, were forced to flee their homes after her arrest when they were threatened by angry mobs. These Christian families remain homeless and afraid to return. On Sept. 18 they held a rally in Islamabad calling for the resignation of Paul Bhatti, Pakistan’s federal minister for interfaith harmony. Demonstrators claim Bhatti raised funds for the displaced families and offered to help resettle them but has not lived up to his commitments. The families are sleeping out in the open and surviving on one meal a day. Minister Bhatti denied the allegations.
Christian Families Displaced in Pakistan
Show Comments (0)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
Leo has sought to be a uniter calling for a more peaceful world. We need leaders who remind us of what is possible, who bring out the best in us while discouraging the worst.
Cardinal Stephen Chow, 65, the bishop of Hong Kong, was the only Chinese cardinal to vote in the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV.
On Monday morning, Pope Leo XIV met JD Vance in the private library of the Apostolic Palace, a day after the pontiff's inaugural Mass.
Preaching for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year C, Fr. Bill Gabriel, O.S.A., finds resonance in his homily between the risen Christ’s parting words—“Peace be with you”—and Pope Leo XIV’s call for “an unarmed and disarming peace.”