Religious Leadership or Land Mafia Operating throughout Pakistan

Bishop Dr. Ijaz Inayat

Shamim Masih writes about the injustice and persecution leveled against Christians in Pakistan. Shamim begins by referencing a previous post, “Self – Esteem and Dignity lies in Mutual Respect”. With this post he continues these thoughts, but there is some emphasis on some members of Pakistan’s Christian leadership using their clerical positions to exploit the Christian laity rank and file for self-aggrandizement of wealth and power.

 

Shamim uses Sadiq Daniel as an example. The scoop on Daniel is that he rigged a pastoral election to attain the Office of Bishop (See Also HERE) of Karachi then proceeded to sell off Church property (he evidently had ordained minister accomplices – See Also HERE) and placed the proceeds of the sales in his own pockets.

 

In some of the links above Bishop Dr. Ijaz Inayat is a Christian hero trying to reverse the curse of insidious Church leadership in Pakistan. Shamim mentions this in the report below.

 

 

JRH 6/7/14

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Religious Leadership or Land Mafia Operating throughout Pakistan

 

Shepherd’s Staff

Wolf in sheep

 

By Shamim Masih

Sent: 6/6/2014 5:21 PM

 

ISLAMABAD: Earlier I posted that healthy self-esteem is important because some of us think too little of ourselves; on the other hand, some of us overestimate themselves. The key to an honest and accurate evaluation know the basis of our self-worth - our identity. Evaluating yourself by the worldly standards of success and achievement can cause you to think too much about your worth in the eyes of others and thus miss your true values in God’s eyes.

 

Many Christian right activists are working in our country; some of them have vision to save Christians facing problems others are looking for Western donors and thus creating ambiguity among the workforce. Even religious leadership stands in the same queue. In my college days, I was a drastic religious activist but later I found that most of religious leaders made their wealth via the very avenues they publicly condemned as being anti-environment. What I realized is that they “got theirs” but didn't want anyone else to get the same. It’s not that I now think that all these leaders are good and not harmful to the environment, but if you are going to point accusative fingers you’d better make sure the shit is cleaned from your nails first.

 

Clergy who are members of either denomination could be subject to disciplinary measures. There are many actively involved in massive misappropriation of church properties, under various fraudulent pretexts while holding posts forming part of the pious and respected institution in Christian community, but the so called Bishop Sadiq Daniel from Karachi dioceses from the Church of Pakistan thereby further tarnishing the image of the Christian community at large. Although it is settled a principle of law that once a trust property, always a trust property; thus, no change in its status is permitted in any manner whatsoever. But this man is involved in selling church properties. And finally [the] chief of “Church Property Bachao Tehrik, Pakistan” Bishop Dr. Ijaz Inayat filed an application in the Sindh High Court, and luckily the court is considering it an urgent matter, has accepted the petition and set a date for its hearing.

 

Christianity is still regarded as a problem and a threat by both the government and local people in the country. Christians are still being imprisoned for their faith – often constrained in shackles or stocks – and torture is endemic. The most common form of persecution involves high level pressure to abandon their faith, with sanctions commonly including forced eviction, denial of service and social exclusion. Despite all this, and due to the amazing witness of local believers, the church continues to grow.

 

Fanaticism, mob violence, death threats, bombings, and institutional discrimination are just some of the dangers. Christians are often denied places in schools, are forced to accept only menial jobs, and are viewed with [the] low cast. Certainly, in this situation; we should stand against these evils in the society to save our future. They are either ordained to guard them or to sell them to thieves in few coins.

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Edited by John R. Houk

Text encased in brackets are added by Editor           

© Shamim Masih

Special Correspondents

Daily Khabrian (PakBiz.com description) & Channel - 5

Human Rights Activist

 

Snapshot of Human Rights Activism from 2011

Christian Rights Activist
Freelance Journalist 

Secretary General of Information

Pakistan Christian Congress

 

Shamim Masih’s Donate/Support info:

 

Editor: For Americans especially, I have discovered the best way to donate to Shamim Masih is via Western Union sending to a Western Union agent in Islamabad.

 

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