Pastor says being harassed over his faith
Accuses neighbour, his tenants of two robberies at his house.
LAHORE:
A Christian pastor has complained that being the only Christian resident of the area, he has been robbed and threatened by some Muslim neighbours over a difference of belief.
Pastor Siddique Sindhu, a Green Town resident, has accused the owner of a nearby house of having a hand in two robberies at his house in 2009 and 2011. He says dowry of his daughters and other items worth Rs0.8m were taken away.
Sindhu has filed two complaints with the police against Muhammad Aslam Shah on August 13, 2009 and on June 11, 2011 saying that Shah was involved in the robberies. He says Shah wants him to abandon his house, so that he can then build an imam bargah there. He says he is being targeted for being a Christian.
In the FIRs, Sindhu said that gold jewellery, cash, a TV, a laptop, two wrist watches and grains worth Rs0.8 million were taken away from his house in the two robberies. He said that Shah, who owns a house nearby, had rented out the building to some 30 boys. Some of these boys he said had been threatening him at Shah’s behest. He said that the boys peeped, passed comments at his family members and disturbed them in various ways.
Sindhu told The Express Tribune that one Safdar, had introduced himself as reader to a police superintendent, and told him on July 15, 2011, to withdraw the complaints or else he would implicate Sindhu’s sons in criminal cases.
He said that Safdar had also threatened him with a blasphemy complaint if he did not leave the area.
Sindhu said that he had addressed an application to the inspector general of police against Safdar, who forwarded it to the Saddar SP on July 19 to investigate the matter. He said he had also submitted an application to the chief city police officer in this regard on July 22, and that he forwarded it to the SP (Operations). None of the police officials replied, he added.
Asked about it, Safdar told The Tribune that he had neither threatened the pastor, nor was aware of any application filed by Sindhu against him.
Shah told The Tribune that he was aware that a robbery had taken place at Sindhu’s house. However, he said, it did not follow that he or his tenants were involved in it. He said 28 of his tenants were arrested by the police following Sindhu’s complaints, but since there was no evidence against them, they were later released after they swore on the Holy Quran. He said he believed that his tenants were innocent.
Shah said that Sindhu had been changing his statement about his losses in the robbery. “First, he said he had suffered a loss of Rs2.2 million, then he brought the figure down to Rs1.6 million and then to Rs0.8 million. This has caused the police to doubt his word,” he said. He also said that he had no intentions of constructing any imam bargah on Sindhu’s house.
Waqar Ahmed, the Lahore chapter president of National Peace Committee for Interfaith Harmony, said that he was personally looking into the matter. He said the Muslim neighbours he had interviewed had told him they sympathised with Sindhu. “It’s normal for neighbours to have minor conflicts. No one is targeting Sindhu over a difference of belief. However, we are trying to arrest the robbers.”
Green Town station house officer said that the suspects had been released as there was no evidence against them. However, he said, they were looking for the robbers and would question anybody the complainant said might be involved.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 30th, 2011.
A Christian pastor has complained that being the only Christian resident of the area, he has been robbed and threatened by some Muslim neighbours over a difference of belief.
Pastor Siddique Sindhu, a Green Town resident, has accused the owner of a nearby house of having a hand in two robberies at his house in 2009 and 2011. He says dowry of his daughters and other items worth Rs0.8m were taken away.
Sindhu has filed two complaints with the police against Muhammad Aslam Shah on August 13, 2009 and on June 11, 2011 saying that Shah was involved in the robberies. He says Shah wants him to abandon his house, so that he can then build an imam bargah there. He says he is being targeted for being a Christian.
In the FIRs, Sindhu said that gold jewellery, cash, a TV, a laptop, two wrist watches and grains worth Rs0.8 million were taken away from his house in the two robberies. He said that Shah, who owns a house nearby, had rented out the building to some 30 boys. Some of these boys he said had been threatening him at Shah’s behest. He said that the boys peeped, passed comments at his family members and disturbed them in various ways.
Sindhu told The Express Tribune that one Safdar, had introduced himself as reader to a police superintendent, and told him on July 15, 2011, to withdraw the complaints or else he would implicate Sindhu’s sons in criminal cases.
He said that Safdar had also threatened him with a blasphemy complaint if he did not leave the area.
Sindhu said that he had addressed an application to the inspector general of police against Safdar, who forwarded it to the Saddar SP on July 19 to investigate the matter. He said he had also submitted an application to the chief city police officer in this regard on July 22, and that he forwarded it to the SP (Operations). None of the police officials replied, he added.
Asked about it, Safdar told The Tribune that he had neither threatened the pastor, nor was aware of any application filed by Sindhu against him.
Shah told The Tribune that he was aware that a robbery had taken place at Sindhu’s house. However, he said, it did not follow that he or his tenants were involved in it. He said 28 of his tenants were arrested by the police following Sindhu’s complaints, but since there was no evidence against them, they were later released after they swore on the Holy Quran. He said he believed that his tenants were innocent.
Shah said that Sindhu had been changing his statement about his losses in the robbery. “First, he said he had suffered a loss of Rs2.2 million, then he brought the figure down to Rs1.6 million and then to Rs0.8 million. This has caused the police to doubt his word,” he said. He also said that he had no intentions of constructing any imam bargah on Sindhu’s house.
Waqar Ahmed, the Lahore chapter president of National Peace Committee for Interfaith Harmony, said that he was personally looking into the matter. He said the Muslim neighbours he had interviewed had told him they sympathised with Sindhu. “It’s normal for neighbours to have minor conflicts. No one is targeting Sindhu over a difference of belief. However, we are trying to arrest the robbers.”
Green Town station house officer said that the suspects had been released as there was no evidence against them. However, he said, they were looking for the robbers and would question anybody the complainant said might be involved.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 30th, 2011.