Persecution Watch Weblog

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Christians ‘Go Missing’ Near Afghan Border

Robin Ilyas, Victor Samuel and an unnamed person, all residents of Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi, went missing after crossing the border at Torkham in Khyber tribal region on Dec. 20, their families say. All three worked in Afghanistan and were returning home for Christmas. The families say they may have been taken by Taleban militants in the area, BBC reported on Dec. 23. The Pakistani foreign office has denied any knowledge of the incident. “They were dropped at the border post by a car of Zurmat Construction Company where Robin works as a manager,” Robin Ilyas’s wife, Amy Ilyas, told the BBC. “They were to travel to Peshawar by road, and then take a flight to Karachi,” she said. “We have been calling their cell phones but they are switched off.” The Pakistan-Afghanistan border is a stronghold of local Taleban militants.

30 Christian Families Made Homeless By A Village Elder

About 30 poor Christian families forcibly made homerless in the third week of December by a village elder Muhammad Mansha of Kotla Punjabaig, Sheikhupura district, Punjab province, where Pakistan Muslim League (N) is ruling. These Christians, have been living here before partition 1947, have no other place to live and now they are forced to live in the streets of the village under the open sky in extreme winter weather.

‘Danger’ to Christian Graveyards

ABBOTTABAD: The Christian community held a protest procession and condemned the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) for alleged ‘encroachment on their graveyard,’ daily The News reported on Dec. 1. Christians said the TMA was deliberately disgracing the sanctity of their buried ones by sinking tube-well in the graveyard. The protesters alleged that the administration had failed to protect the rights of the minorities in the area.

– According to the Christians of Khurrarianwala, Punjab province, a powerful and influential local Muslim landlord being assisted by local government officers had demolished and desecrated their 50 graves on Dec. 6 to build a shopping mall on the vacated land. The graveyard was being used by Christian community before partition of Pakistan. Conversely, after Christians continues protests, the Assistant Commissioner (AC) of Jarranwala ensured Christians that justice will be provided to them.