Pakistan: media portray death of Catholic politician as result of family feud

As they can’t deny the fact that Mr Bhatti was murdered, they are lying about why he was killed: because of his opposition to the Pakistani “blasphemy law”. But of course, that wouldn’t be convenient for Pakistani stablishment, would it?

The media in Pakistan are trying to explain the murder of a leading Catholic politician as the result of a family quarrel rather than a political assassination, according to a lawyer who is tracking the case.

Tahir Naveed, who is monitoring the investigation into the death of Shahbaz Bhatti, reports that media outlets are portraying the death of Pakistan’s former religious-affairs minister as the product of a personal dispute. That explanation is inadequate, Naveed says, because “Shahbaz had no personal enemies.”

via Catholic Culture : Latest Headlines : Pakistani media portray death of Catholic politician as result of family feud.

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Pakistan: Christian gunned down in Karachi

Location of Karachi. Image via Wikipedia

A 38-year-old layman has been gunned down in Pakistan’s largest city.

Arnold Archie Dass was slain in front of dozens of onlookers in the oldest Christian neighborhood in Karachi. In the decades since property values have risen in the neighborhood, members of the “Muslim land mafia” have been harassing area Christians, the Pakistan Christian Post reported; the area is now predominantly Muslim.

via Catholic Culture : Latest Headlines : Christian gunned down in Pakistan.

More information on AsiaNews.it:

The victim was getting into his car to go home from work. Local sources say a group of gunmen opened fire in front of dozens of witnesses.

…the group of Islamic extremists who carried out the attack left the scene undisturbed after checking that their target would not survive.

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Pakistan: mixed Christian-Muslim married couple flee death threats

Image via Wikipedia

A young Pakistani married couple has been forced into hiding because of death threats. Islamic leaders have condemned their marriage because the husband is Christian while the wife is Muslim.

Asthma Zubaida, a Muslim schoolteacher, married Basharat Mashi, a civil official in the town of Gujranwala, in September 2010. After receiving multiple death threats, they have fled the town. Their relatives report that they now have been threatened, and complain that local police have taken little interest in their safety.

via Catholic Culture : Latest Headlines : Pakistan: mixed Christian-Muslim married couple flee death threats.

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Pakistan: Police arrests a man in investigation over Shahbaz Bhatti’s murder

Pakistani police have arrested a man suspected of being involved in the March 2 assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, the Catholic cabinet minister slain for his opposition to the nation’s blasphemy law.

A Church official reacted by calling upon authorities to launch a more serious investigation. “We ask the government to launch serious investigations and to urgently predispose all possible means,” said Father Yousaf Emmanuel, director of the bishops’ commission on justice and peace. “We hope and pray that the culprits are caught as soon as possible, so the family and the Christian community can have justice.”

Let’s see if they actually find the culprits and condemn them or it happens as in Gojra killings.

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The case of Pakistani Catholic Farah Hatim

People are fearful for Farah Hatim, the Catholic girl abducted and forced to marry and then to convert to Islam in the city of Rahim Yar Khan in southern Punjab. According to Fides the girl’s family is concerned because Farah is constantly drugged and life-threatened. Yet authorities continue to discourage attempts by the family in its battle to request the release of Farah.

Yesterday Qasim Hatim and Huma, a brother and a sister of the victim, were summoned by local police to show them a marriage certificate, a declaration of conversion to Islam and a picture of Farah, with the traditional Muslim robes.

More here.