The Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) said the 54-year-old Bhutto was seen as the "hope of becoming free from Muslim blasphemy laws." Christians across the country have been imprisoned, with some potentially facing execution, for allegedly insulting Islam.
CLAAS, and other groups have said the laws are often misused to settle scores or to persecute the country’s Christian minority. In addition, Christians have been forced to convert, CLAAS told BosNewsLife.
In one of the latest cases 14-year-old student Hina from the Sialkot area in Punjab Province approached the organization after being kidnapped by a Muslim man, identified only as Nadeem, who "forcibly converted her to Islam and then married her," CLAAS said.
DISAPPEARANCE REPORT
"A report of her disappearance was registered by her parents, but the police, as usual, took no action," CLAAS said. Police officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Hina managed eventually to escape and her parents brought her to a CLAAS shelter home, where she was able to resume her study, the group said. Another women, 22-year-old Chanda, has been threatened with death by her Muslim parents for converting to Christianity, CLAAS said, adding she is now in one of its safe houses.
CLAAS and other rights groups in Pakistan had hoped that Bhutto would be able to ease tensions. She told BosNewsLife in October that she wanted to reach out to all Pakistanis. Yet on Friday, December 28, her supporters, including Christian activists, watched how in southern Sindh province the coffin holding Bhutto’s body was taken to the family mausoleum and lowered into a grave next to her father.
ANGRY SUPPORTERS
Angry Bhutto supporters continued street protests Friday, December 28, attacking police stations and government offices, and setting cars and trains on fire. The government said Friday, December 28 that al-Qaida terrorists were behind the assassination of Bhutto.
The Interior Ministry spokesman, Brigadier Javed Cheema, said the government had recorded intelligence intercepts during which al-Qaida leader Baitullah Mehsud congratulated terrorists for killing Bhutto.
However many Pakistanis apparently blame President Pervez Musharraf’s government for Bhutto’s death. Fears of more violence reportedly prompted the government to send troops to several cities, including Karachi and Hyderabad in Sindh province, where most of the unrest has taken place.
Officials there have issued "shoot to kill" orders against violent protesters, the Voice of America (VOA) network reported. At least 31 people have died since Bhutto’s assassination on Thursday, December 27. (Stay with BosNewsLife for coverage on the crisis in Pakistan and its impact on the Church).
