him, several Catholic officials confirmed. The court also ordered the release on bail of 65 of the 88 Muslims who allegedly burned churches and other Christian properties in the town of Sangla Hill in Punjab province, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) northeast of Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city.
The November 12 riots began after Masih was accused of desecrating and burning the Quran, the secret book of Islam. Masih always denied the charges.
Thousands of angry Muslims were seen burning a Roman Catholic Church, two United Presbyterian Churches as well as the local Sisters Convent, St. Anthony High School, a hostel and Christian homes, including residences of a Catholic priest and a pastor.
CROSSES BURNED
About 500 Bibles, Christian literature and schoolbooks as well as crosses were among the other items set ablaze by the mob, several sources said.
It was the country’s worst outbreak of anti-Christian violence since gunmen attacked a church on Christmas Day, 2002, and underscored concern over the country’s blasphemy laws, said religious rights advocacy organizations.
Christians agreed however to drop charges against those accused of involvement in the violence in exchange for the release of Masih.
Last month, Mohammad Saleem Kalu, the man who had charged Yousaf Masih with blasphemy, withdrew his accusation and signed a document declaring the man’s innocence. Saleem said he had accused the Christian on the basis of "mere suspicion."
MASIH "HAPPY"
In statements Masih said he was "happy" about his release, while thanking "all those who had supported" him. However his release did little to ease tensions in Pakistan, which has seen weeks of anti-Christian attacks fuelled in part by anger over published cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, churches say.
Last Sunday, February 19, a Muslim mob set fire on two churches at Sukkur, the third largest city of the southern Sindh province, some 480 km (300 miles) north of Karachi. The protest began over the alleged burning of pages of the Quran, Catholics said, at a time when tensions were already high because of the cartoons publication.
The St. Xavier Protestant Church and St. Mary’s Catholic Church buildings were ransacked and burnt completely while Bibles and other Christian materials were also destroyed, witnesses said.
MORE VIOLENCE
Nationwide protests against the publishing of the cartoons also led to attacks on the Christian Edward College, St. Michael’s Convent School, St. Elizabeth Girls College and a Mission hospital in Peshawar between February 13 and February 15, said the Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS).
The UK-based religious advocacy and aid group also told BosNewsLife that it had established that a girls school run by the Presbyterian Church in Kasur, 40 Kilometers (25 miles) from Lahore, several churches and Christian properties were attacked within two weeks.
In addition a prominent Christian singer, A-Nayyar, was robbed and forced to recite ‘Kalima’, the Islamic creed, the All Pakistan Minority Alliance (APMA) and other human rights workers said.
SEVERAL ATTACKERS
The incident happened as "A- Nayyar was walking to his house in Canal Park near the house of the Punjab [state] chief minister after recording songs at 2am on February 16, 2006…Five or six unidentified young men, some of them wearing bandanas, stopped him, stole his money and after recognizing him, beat him up asking him to recite the Kalima," APMA Chairman Shahbaz Bhatti told BosNewsLife.
In addition on February 16, Mohsin, a Christian student and owner of am Internet cafe in Lahore was arrested by police after a Muslim boy accused him of showing the Prophet Muhammad cartoons on a website, CLAAS claimed.
Although police later found that the allegations "were baseless." the residents of Yohanabad which is the largest [200,000 strong] Christian area in Lahore metropolitan, spent nights and days in fear of an onslaught after the incident," the organization said.
GOVERNMENT APPEAL
APMA and CLAAS are among organizations appealing to Pakistan’s government to better protect the Christian minority in the Asian nation.
"Christians throughout Pakistan have lost their faith in the verbal protection by the government, and many of them are scared of attending churches or going out of their houses," said CLAAS Coordinator Nasir Saeed.
Christians comprise less than 3 percent of Pakistan’s over 162-million people, according to official estimates. (With BosNewsLife Research, BosNewsLife reporters and reports from Pakistan).
