Shamim & Najma Masih
John R. Houk
© March 29, 2016
Shamim Masih has been a long-term contributor to my blogs SlantRight 2.0, NCCR
and Ubiquitous8Thoughts.
I have posted many of Shamim’s submissions cross posting among all three blogs.
All three blogs have a search element but annoyingly the search results are not
in any kind of order but comes as a mixed bag of posts.
Every so often I post a plea for any readers of this blog to
donate to the well-being of Shamim Masih. You might ask, “Why? What has Shamim
done for me in America or in Europe?”
Shamim is one of the Christian minority living in Pakistan.
Pakistan is officially an Islamic Republic with about 97% of the population
professing to be Muslim. In 2005 an estimate of the Christian population was
about 2.5 million souls. That was then 1.6% of population according to Wikipedia.
If you listen to Pakistani Christians, the population is greater. If you listen
to Muslims in the government, they may guess a lesser amount of Christians.
For such a small percentage of the Pakistan population you
would think Muslim would not view their Christian citizens as a threat. But
guess what? Pakistan Muslims – even the so-called Moderate majority – treat
Pakistani Christians as third rate dhimmis worthy to be treated with
humiliation and disdain. Even to the point of false accusation of blasphemy
against Islam for no other real reason other than greed or vindictiveness. As
far as a I know no one convicted under Blasphemy Laws has been officially
executed by the government, yet some Christians have died in prison under
mysterious circumstances. Murdered Christians in prison examples:
o
Aftab Bahadur Masih – Convicted for false
claim of murder in 1992, executed by hanging in June 2015.
Pakistani Christians live constantly under the fear of
persecution via vandalism, false accusations, rapes, forced conversions and
some downright humiliating treatment for a human being. ALL just for being a
Christian.
Shamim Masih as a Christian Rights Activist, a journalist
and some lay ministry to Christians lives under these horrible circumstances
with nearly no succor from the Western World which for the most part has turned
its back on Biblical Christianity.
Shamim has shared with me that his activities have gotten
him discharged as a journalist at the Daily
Khabrain. I am unsure if they gave Shamim a specific reason but he believes
his bosses fired him for going to Yohanabad against a direct order to write
about the afflicted Christian victims Islamic terrorism blowing two Churches
during services.
Shamim has also shared that he has gone on a hiatus from
writing because he and his family have received threats for his pro-Christian
work in Pakistan.
Here is the last communication Shamim sent to me to share
with my blog readers:
Before proceeding let me introduce
myself, this is Shamim Masih, professional journalist with diverse work experience
from humanitarian to journalism. Many of you are witness to it that apart from
my professional responsibilities, I have been writing for the voiceless
community of Pakistan and raising issues they are facing. I have ever tried to
reach the place where Pakistani Christians faced problems or any incident
accrued, from Gojra burning to twin churches blasts in Youhanabad, Lahore last
year. Remember that all these services are volunteers. No organization is
supporting me in this regard, though I got many threat calls but I dare to
raise their voice.
Unfortunately, this resulted in the
loss my job (a regular source of income), since August last year. I am jobless
and hardly managing my living expenses. I am a father of four school-going
children and this year my children also secured very good marks and were promoted
to the next classes. Sorry to say but I am penniless and don’t even have funds
to purchase books, uniform and stationary for them. In this regard, if you can
support me this year and pray for my job as well, [my gratitude would be
enormous].
Kind Regards,
Shamim
Unfortunately, Pakistan is one of those nations that does
not allow PayPal to operate in that nation. You can use my SlantRight
2.0 PayPal account link, but if you do so please leave Shamim a
donation of substance. The reason being is that I use Western Union to send
money to Shamim and that company charges me a percentage of whatever amount I
send.
Here is the Western Union information I share with every
Shamim Masih post:
The best way to SUPPORT
Shamim’s Christian advocacy in Pakistan is via Western Union sending money
with this LINK
to a Western Union agent in Islamabad. Include Shamim’s phone - +92-300-642-4560
The Islamic
terrorism committed against Christians is an ongoing horror in Pakistan. Below
are a couple news reports telling you about an attack against Christians -
mostly women and children – congregating together in a park in Lahore Pakistan
to celebrate Easter. The death toll may be a progressive discovery. On Fox News
on Sunday I heard 70 died. I have read early reports place the dead at 55 and
the latest report that I discovered on 3/28 was 72.
JRH 3/29/16
****************
‘The target was Christians,’ Pakistani Taliban says of
Lahore Easter attack
By BILL ROGGIO
March 28, 2016
The spokesman
for a faction of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan said that the group
intentionally targeted Christians in a suicide bombing which killed and
wounded hundreds of women and children on Easter Sunday.
“The target was
Christians,” Ihsanullah Ihsan, the official spokesman of the Movement of the Taliban
in Pakistan Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, said according to a statement obtained by The
Long War Journal.
Ihsan also said that
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar wanted to “send a message to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that
we have entered Lahore.” The group has been operating in Punjab province for
nearly two years.
At least 72 people,
mostly women and children, were killed and more than 300 were wounded after a
suicide bomber detonated his explosives at the entrance of the Gulshan-i-Iqbal
park in the eastern city of Lahore, according
to Dawn. Many of the people at the park were said
to have been celebrating Easter Sunday.
The brutal Lahore
suicide attack took place just one day after the Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan, the official name of the Afghan Taliban, released
a statement entitled “Only Islamic rituals can be celebrated
in an Islamic country” on its official website, Voice of Jihad. The Movement of
the Taliban in Pakistan has given an oath of allegiance to the Islamic Emirate
of Afghanistan.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has
targeted Christians in Lahore in the past. In March 2015, the group claimed
responsibility for the bombings at two churches in Lahore. At least 14
people were
killed and 70 more were wounded.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar
launched at least two other suicide attacks in Punjab. In November 2014, a
suicide bomber killed 50 people at the Wagah border crossing with India. And in
August 2015, another of the group’s suicide bombers killed Punjab province’s
home minister and 16 other people in an attack at his house.
The Pakistani
military responded to the Easter Sunday massacre in Lahore by announcing the
beginning of a
wide security operation in Punjab to root out Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.
But, as noted, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has been active in the province and has
conducted several high-profile suicide attacks there since November 2014.
A dangerous jihadist group
The leadership of
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is known to have ties to multiple jihadist groups operating in
the region. Omar Khalid al Khurasani, a top leader of the group, is closely
linked to Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s emir, and has called for the imposition
of sharia law and the establishment of a global caliphate. Khurasani has also
said that a primary goal of the Pakistani Taliban is to obtain nuclear weapons.
[See LWJ reports, Taliban
commander wants Pakistan’s nukes, global Islamic caliphate,
and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar
celebrates 9/11 attack.]
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar split
from the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan in the summer of
2014 after a leadership dispute emerged in the wake of the killing of
Hakeemullah Mehsud, the previous emir of the Pakistani Taliban alliance.
But Jamaat-ul-Ahrar
rejoined the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan in March
2015. Lashkar-e-Islam, a group based in Pakistan’s tribal areas, also joined
the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.
The Movement of the
Taliban in Pakistan is also known to have integrated key al Qaeda and
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi leaders into its organization. In May 2014, three jihadist
groups – led by Matiur Rehman, Ehsanul Haq, and Muhammad Shamil – merged
with the group. Matiur Rehman, who was put in command of all three factions,
is a senior al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi leader. The US Treasury Department
described Rehman as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s “chief operational commander” and as “a
planning director for al Qaeda” in
his 2010 designation.
+++
Pakistan: Taliban Massacres Christians in Easter Suicide
Bombing
Posted by Vijeta Uniyal
March 27, 2016 at 8:13pm
At least 69 people
have died and 300 injured in a suicide bombing targeting Christians during
Easter celebration in Pakistan. Most of the victims are women and children.
The attack took
place in a public park in the Pakistani city of Lahore. A former Taliban
splinter group, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, has taken responsibility for the attack —
confirming the target of the suicide bombing were Christians. In 2014,
the splinter group had reportedly pledged allegiance
to the Islamic State (ISIS).
According to
eyewitnesses the explosion took place at the entrance of the park — meters away
from the children’s swings.
Indian-based NDTV reports:
A breakaway Pakistani faction of the militant
Taliban group has claimed responsibility for an Easter Sunday bombing in a park
in the eastern city of Lahore that killed 65 people.
Ahsanullah Ahsan, spokesman for Jamaat-ul-Ahrar,
told the Associated Press that a suicide bomber with the faction deliberately
targeted the Christian community.
The explosion took place near the children’s
rides in Gulshan-e-Iqbal park – which was crowded with Christians celebrating
Easter -local police chief Haider Ashraf said. He said the explosion appeared
to have been a suicide bombing, but investigations were ongoing.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar’s
spokesman told media that “we have carried out this attack to target the
Christians who were celebrating Easter. Also this is a message to the Pakistani
prime minister that we have arrived in Punjab [Pakistan’s most populous
province].”
The attack comes at
a time when Islamists are rioting in Pakistan in support of Islamist gunman
Mumtaz Qadri, who murdered the governor of Punjab 5 years ago. Qadri was hanged
for the murder last month, sparking nationwide protests from the Islamic
fanatics.
With a population of
just over 2 million, Christians make up around 1.5 percent on Pakistan’s
population. The tiny minority has long been a target of terrorist attacks, as
well as persecuted by state-sanctioned Sharia and blasphemy laws.
Watch: EuroNews report on Lahore Terror Attack
Posted by euronews (in
English)
Published on Mar 27, 2016
A suicide bombing has killed at least 65 people, mostly women and
children, and injured at least 280 others at a public park in the Pakistani
city of Lahore.…
READ MORE: http://www.euronews.com/2016/03/27/pakistan-dozens-killed-scores-injured-in-lahore-blast
What are the top stories today? Click to watch: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSyY1udCyYqBeDOz400FlseNGNqReKkFd
euronews: the most watched news channel in Europe
Subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSrZ3UV4jOidv8ppoVuvW9Q?sub_confirmation=1
euronews is available in 13 languages: https://www.youtube.com/user/euronewsnetwork/channels
In English:
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What are the top stories today? Click to watch: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSyY1udCyYqBeDOz400FlseNGNqReKkFd
euronews: the most watched news channel in Europe
Subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSrZ3UV4jOidv8ppoVuvW9Q?sub_confirmation=1
euronews is available in 13 languages: https://www.youtube.com/user/euronewsnetwork/channels
In English:
Website: http://www.euronews.com/news
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/euronews
Twitter: http://twitter.com/euronews
Google+: http://google.com/+euronews
VKontakte: http://vk.com/en.euronews
+++
Terror in Pakistan: 70 Christians Massacred in Easter
Sunday Suicide Bombing
By Abra Forman
March 28, 2016, 12:30 pm
“And their bows shall dash the
young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb;
their eye shall not spare children.” Isaiah 13:18 (The Israel Bible™)
Christians were the
target of Easter Sunday’s devastating terror attack at a Pakistani park, said
the Taliban-affiliated terror group which claimed credit for the carnage. At
least 70 Pakistani Christians were killed in the city of Lahore when explosives
originating from Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban,
detonated amidst hundreds of families gathered to celebrate the holiday.
The explosion is
believed to be the work of a suicide bomber who entered the main gate to the
park in the early evening. It took place only a short distance from a
playground, killing 29 children and dozens of adults.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar,
which swore allegiance to the Islamic
State in 2014 after splitting from the Taliban and then
switched loyalties again in 2015, said it had perpetrated the attack in order
to send a message to Pakistan’s leaders: Islamic terrorism has arrived.
“The target was
Christians,” said faction spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, Reuters reported. “We want to send this message to Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif that we have entered Lahore.”
Lahore, the capital
city of Pakistan’s richest province, Punjab, represents the power base of
Sharif’s government and has a significant Christian population. The attack on
the city’s Christians, which came on one of the most significant religious holidays
of the year, was the deadliest assault on Pakistani Christians since the 2013
bombing of a Peshawar church which killed over 80 people.
In addition to the
fatalities, which are still adding up, over 300 people were wounded. The nation
quickly announced three days of mourning for the victims.
Government and
military officials immediately launched several raids and searches around
Punjab, uncovering weapons caches and detaining suspected terrorists, said
military spokesman General Asim Bajwa in a tweet.
Number of suspect terrorists and facilitators
arrested and huge cache of arms and ammunition recovered-3
While Pakistan’s
Christians comprise only 1.6 percent of the population, they are the
second-largest minority group after Hindus in Pakistan, which is about 95
percent Muslim.
Attacks on Christian
villages, hospitals and churches have increased in recent years as Islamic
fanaticism in the region ramps up and Muslims target Christians, whom they see
as infidels.
Lahore in particular
has been a target. In 2013, Muslims attacked a Christian neighborhood in the
city and burned over 100 houses after a Christian allegedly made “blasphemous”
remarks.
Islamic terrorism
has become an increasingly serious threat to Christians worldwide. The terror
group Boko Haram, a Nigerian Islamic organization
active in Africa, is believed to have killed between 9,000 and 11,500
Christians since 2000.
In the Middle East,
ISIS is known to massacre, kidnap and enslave Christians unlucky
enough to be captured within the caliphate’s territory in Syria and Iraq, as it
sees Christians as idol worshipers. In Israel, Christians enjoy religious
freedom, but no one is free from the militant Islamism and terror which has
killed over 30 Israelis and injured hundreds more in past several months.
+++
Other sources examined:
Lahore
attack: Christian leaders express horror at massacre – The Guardian 12/28/16 07.52 EDT
EASTER
MASSACRE IN PAKISTAN: At Least 65 Dead And 300 Injured After A Taliban Suicide
Bomber Targeted Christians Celebrating Easter In A Park – Shoebat.com 12/27/16
Pakistan
plans new paramilitary crackdown; Easter bombing kills 70 – Reuters 12/28/16 2:43pm EDT
The
death toll for the Easter-Day massacre in central Pakistan has risen to 72
victims, mostly women and children, along with at least 320 injured. – Breitbart.com 12/28/16
________________________
Shamim Masih in Pakistan
John R. Houk
© March 29, 2016
The best way to SUPPORT Shamim’s Christian advocacy in
Pakistan is via Western Union sending
money with this LINK
to a Western Union agent in Islamabad. Include Shamim’s phone - +92-300-642-4560
Pakistan is one of those
nations that does not allow PayPal to operate in that nation. You can use my SlantRight
2.0 PayPal account link, but if you do so please leave Shamim a
donation of substance. The reason being is that I use Western Union to send
money to Shamim and that company charges me a percentage of whatever amount I
send.
______________________
‘The target was Christians,’ Pakistani Taliban says of
Lahore Easter attack
Bill
Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the
Editor of The Long War Journal.
Copyright @ 2007 - 2015, Public
Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved
__________________
Pakistan: Taliban Massacres Christians in Easter Suicide
Bombing
_________________
Terror in Pakistan: 70 Christians Massacred in Easter
Sunday Suicide Bombing
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