also attacked other believers, including women and children, in a village outside Lahore as persecution spreads in Pakistan’s remote areas, investigators told BosNewsLife.
Pastor Indrias Masih was beaten and shot in his left ear last week, November 5, as a punishment for informing police about Muslim attacks the previous day in the village of Nial Da Wera, about 96 kilometers (60 miles) outside Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city, said the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS).
The troubles began November 4 when an angry Muslim mob shot another active Christian in the village, identified as Binyamin, on Eid day, the end of the Muslim month of fasting known as ‘Ramadan’, explained Nasir Saeed, coordinator of CLAAS which provides legal and other aid to persecuted Christians.
BRIEFLY DETAINED
Police eventually detained all Muslim men involved in the attacks, but they were released the next day and allowed to return to the village where they attacked the village pastor as well as other believers including women and children, Nasir said.
"Pastor Indrias Masih is still in [the General] Hospital [of Lahore] and will recover soon," after his left ear was stitched by local doctors, he added. Nasir told BosNewsLife that police arrested two Muslims, but so far details of the investigation have been withheld.
SERIOUS SITUATION
The CLAAS coordinator stressed that the "situation of Christians in the village is [still serious]" as Christian villagers have fled the region. He said the tensions in the Nial Da Wera underscores persecution "in remote areas where Christians live in patches."
"They are always at the brink of facing such disputes that arise from issues of every size," he added. Human rights watchers say Muslim extremism increased in Pakistan following the September 11 attacks in the United States and the decision by Pakistan’s government to support the US-led war on terrorism.
A CLAAS team, which also includes a bishop and other officials, are in the region to investigate the troubles, BosNewsLife learned. (With BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos and reports from Pakistan).
