Pakistan

As many as 2,000 [Pakistani] women and girls from various minority sects were forcibly converted to Islam through rape, torture and kidnappings, while 161 people were charged with blasphemy in 2011... Pakistan has the lowest youth literacy rate. Only 59 percent females are literate as compared to 79 percent of males in the age group of 15 to 24 years. There are around 51.2 million adult illiterates in Pakistan. Only 65 percent schools have drinking water facilities, 62 percent have toilet facilities, 61 percent have a boundary wall and only 39 percent have electricity... According to the National Nutrition Survey (NNS) 2011, 43 percent children born in Pakistan are afflicted by stunting (low height for age). source: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\09\05\story_5-9-2012_pg7_25

The Pakistani government has asked the U.S. government to stop publically demanding that Pakistan take action against the terrorist sanctuary in North Waziristan. source: http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/india/articles/20120919.aspx

Pushtuns: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htwin/articles/20121125.aspx

Pushtunstan and Baluchistan: http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/india/articles/20121218.aspx

A volunteer who was shot during a wave of attacks on polio-vaccination teams has succumbed to his injuries in Pakistan. That brings to nine the number of health workers killed since December 17. Officials say the student volunteer died on December 20, a day after he was shot while helping distribute polio drops in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Five of the nine health workers killed were women. The bloodshed prompted United Nations agencies to suspend their campaign against polio in Pakistan after the attacks. The Islamic terrorist group Jundullah claimed responsibility, telling RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal that polio vaccination is forbidden in Islam. Pakistan is one of only three countries where the disease is endemic. source:http://www.rferl.org/content/pakistan-polio-ninth-death/24803969.html

Polio vaccination in Pakistan: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htmoral/articles/20121224.aspx

Pakistani rivers are full of rubbish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JX7MrLHUpo

In the 54 months since a democratically elected government took over from a military dictatorship in Pakistan the poverty rate has gone up (from 17 percent to nearly 25 percent) as has the percentage of Pakistanis who lack sufficient food (from 48 to 58 percent). The literacy rate of young (under 25) Pakistanis remains low (53 percent). Senior government officials are wealthy but about two-thirds of them pay no tax. Pakistani military takes about 20 percent of the government's budget. source: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htwin/articles/20130101.aspx

The growing Islamic terrorist violence against vaccination efforts (especially for measles and polio) in Pakistan led to a sharp increase (306) in measles deaths in Pakistan last year compared to 2011 (when only 64 died). The Islamic terrorists consider these deaths to be God’s Will and have nothing to do with Islamic terror attacks on vaccination teams... In Kashmir, Pakistani troops crossed the border and killed two Indian soldiers, allegedly beheading one of them before retreating back across the border. Pakistan denied that this happened. India is pretty angry as this is the second cross border attack in a week. source: http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/india/articles/20130110.aspx

British Pakistani Christian Association: http://britishpakistanichristian.blogspot.co.uk/

Rape and murder of Christian children in Pakistan: http://www.radicalislam.org/analysis/rape-and-murder-pakistan%E2%80%99s-christian-children

Baluchistan Is burning: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htterr/articles/20130122.aspx

The Pakistani supreme court is pressing the army leadership to halt its practice of arresting terrorism suspects and holding them (often for years) without charging them. Over 700 are believed to be held now. The army responds that the Pakistani judicial system doesn’t work and that Islamic terrorists tried by the courts routinely escape justice even in the face of overwhelming evidence... Pakistan still has several thousand foreign Islamic terrorists, most of them in the tribal territories. Over half of the Arab Islamic terrorists have left in the last decade, but have been replaced by more from Central Asia, Europe and Southeast Asia. Most of these Islamic terrorists use Pakistan as a sanctuary. That is, they carry out no attacks in Pakistan and often cooperate with Pakistani intelligence (ISI, long a supporter and ally of Islamic terrorists.) source: http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/india/articles/20130131.aspx

In the last five years, Pakistan has suffered 38,000 terrorist related deaths, mostly in their northwest tribal territories... In Pakistan a lot of the deaths from organized terrorism are not caused by bombs but bullets. Assassination via pistols or assault rifles is increasingly common. In Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, over 500 people will die each from political assassins alone. Karachi contains about 11 percent of the national population. Nationwide, more people are killed by small arms (mainly pistols) than bombs. But the suicide bombings are much more newsworthy, even though they kill fewer people than the assassinations (which are targeting, usually, political rivals). But the political differences are often based on ethnic and religious ones. The million or so Pushtuns who have flocked to Karachi in the past decades, support parties, and criminal gangs, that kill leaders of opposing parties (who retaliate, and so on). source: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htatrit/articles/20130130.aspx

Pakistan is under international pressure to shut down the terrorist training camps near Indian Kashmir but has been unable or unwilling to do so. source: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htwin/articles/20130214.aspx

Muslims jump for joy as they burn 160 Christian homes, 18 Christian shops and 2 Christian churches. (Lahore, Pakistan, March 9, 2013) http://www.powerlineblog.com/admin/ed-assets/2013/03/cab09a9137f1a5082b0f6a70670064c8.jpg
Muslims burnt 160 Christian homes and 2 churches in Lahore, Pakistan, on March 9, 2013: http://www.asianews.it/news-en/160-houses-and-2-churches-burnt-in-Lahore:-photos-27383.html
http://news.yahoo.com/mob-torches-dozens-pakistani-christian-homes-170436436.html
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/03/christians-homes-burned-in-pakistan.php
Shouldn't Muslim Clergy Condemn Lahore Attack? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neale-donald-walsch/shouldnt-muslim-clergy-co_b_2848512.html

The Pakistani military has no enthusiasm for any kind of civilian control. This is because the military has been largely autonomous for decades and its leaders have grown quite rich in the process. The troops are treated well because of some reforms in the last decade (when some generals noted that many of the troops were unhappy about their poverty, especially compared to the officers). The Pakistani government pays for all this. Most of the financial burden falls on lower income Pakistanis because few wealthy Pakistanis pay taxes. All this is becoming more widely known and the military is resented for its greedy and independent ways. The military is seen as more interested in getting rich than in actually providing security for Pakistanis. The recent growth in Sunni Islamic terror group attacks on Shia Moslems, Christians, and other religious militias is blamed on the military's unwillingness to shut down the many Sunni Islamic terror groups they either support or tolerate. The military can no longer control the mass media like they used to, and all this unrest is constantly in the news. source: http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/india/articles/20130315.aspx

Muslim persecution of Christians in Pakistan: http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3664/christian-persecution-pakistan

Pakistan is not making much progress in eliminating Islamic terrorism. A significant minority (20-30 percent) of Pakistanis still supports Islamic terrorism and the terror groups have no problem gaining new recruits. A larger fraction of Pakistanis oppose Islamic terrorism. The problem is that the Islamic terrorists are willing to die for their beliefs while most of those who oppose Islamic terrorism just want to get on with their lives. Faced with this, most Pakistanis try to stay out of the way of all the violence or, if they can afford to, immigrate. Meanwhile the economy is a mess, corruption is rampant and terrorists continue to slaughter Pakistanis regularly. Karachi is becoming particularly dangerous and out-of-control as the Taliban and other Islamic terror groups increase their presence in the nation’s largest city. Pakistan actually has several terrorism problems. The Taliban are mainly a Pushtun tribal movement, while the Islamic terror groups that have a more international outlook (especially for attacking India) are recruited outside the tribal territories. The best example of this is LeT (Lashkar e Taiba), which is very popular among middle and upper class high school and college students. Also largely recruited outside the tribal territories are several Islamic terrorist groups who concentrate on attacking religious groups (Moslem and non-Moslem) they do not agree with. These have been a problem for decades while the internationalist groups developed in the 1980s with Pakistani government backing. In the 1990s the government also created the Afghan Taliban which eventually spawned a Pakistani branch that seeks to turn Pakistan into a religious dictatorship. Most Pakistanis are opposed to this. The Pakistani government officially denies, as much as possible, that a lot of these terrorists exist and will not accept any responsibility for creating or sustaining them. Unofficially, many members of the military and intelligence agencies are quite openly backing one terrorist group or another. Former (since 2008) Pakistani military dictator Pervez Musharraf recently admitted what had long been an open secret; that Pakistan made a deal with the United States nine years ago to secretly allow CIA UAVs to find Islamic terrorists and kill them with missiles. The understanding was that this would include terrorists who were only attacking foreigners as well as those making attacks inside Pakistan. The Pakistani government always denied that there was any such deal but few Pakistanis believed them. source: http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/india/articles/20130414.aspx

Taliban victims seek support: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/03/taliban-victims-seek-support/

Arifa, a mother of two, has been stoned to death on the orders of Panchayat (a tribal court) for possessing a cell phone. She was executed on 11 July in the district of Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab province. The victim was stoned to death by her uncle and relatives on the orders of Panchayat after she was found to have a mobile phone. According to media reports her uncle, cousins and other relatives threw stones and bricks at her until she died. She was buried without informing anyone. Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the Panchayat but no one has been arrested. She was buried in a desert far away from her village and nobody (not even her children) was allowed to participate in the funeral. source: http://www.humanrights.asia/news/ahrc-news/AHRC-STM-128-2013

The Pakistani ISI (Inter Service Intelligence) is their equivalent of the CIA or any number of similar intelligence agencies. The big difference is that the ISI has to do everything on the cheap and is constantly playing catchup to better funded outfits in the United States, India, Russia and even Britain (which has traditionally been tight with funding while getting a lot for what little they do spend on MI6). Recently the ISI was called out on the inadequacy of its efforts to play the lobbying game in the United States. To participate here foreign nations do not just hire lobbyists to try and influence American politicians, but also donate money to universities and think tanks with the expectation that they will have experts from their country to teach at the universities or join the staffs of the think tanks. The ISI is being criticized for sending second-rate people, who will have less credibility as college teachers or think tank authors. The Pakistani experts protest, but the criticism is well founded when you look closely and find that most of the Pakistani exports are politicians or former generals rather than PhDs from top rated Western universities that other countries use. source: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htintel/articles/20130718.aspx

India claims that Pakistan allows 42 terrorist camps to operate in Pakistan, most of them in Pakistani Kashmir. These camps produce terrorists dedicated to committing violence in India and over the last three years India has detected at least 270 of these men entering Indian Kashmir (95 in 2010, 52 in 2011 and 121 last year). Another 570 terrorists were forced to retreat back into Pakistan when Indian troops intercepted their crossing. Over the last three years Islamic terrorists captured in Indian Kashmir admit that the Pakistani government has allowed terror groups to rebuild their training camps. Many of these camps were closed by an embarrassed Pakistan in late 2008 and early 2009 in the wake of a November 2008 terror attack in Mumbai that was clearly carried out by terrorists based in Pakistan. That Pakistani embarrassment didn't last. India says it has killed at least 14 Islamic terrorists in Kashmir so far this month and that over 300 are waiting on the other side of the LOC for an opportunity to cross. source: http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/india/articles/20130810.aspx

Pakistan refuses to accept responsibility for the Islamic terrorists operating from its territory and attacking India. In response to more of these attacks and growing Indian anger over the Pakistani attitude, the Pakistanis are increasing their accusations that it is all India’s fault. Despite much evidence saying otherwise Pakistan accuses India of causing the border incidents involving Pakistani troops firing across the border in Kashmir and insists that India is behind the rise of Islamic terrorism inside Pakistan. Indians don’t quite know how to handle this, as it defies logic and the growing evidence that the Islamic terrorism has been Pakistani government supported (via the ISI and Islamic political parties) for decades. A growing number of Pakistanis agree with the Indian position but saying so out loud inside Pakistan can get you killed, even if you are a senior and well-guarded government official. source: http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/india/articles/20130929.aspx

Poliovirus cannot be eradicated in Pakistan because Muslims kill nurses who vaccinate children: http://tribune.com.pk/story/649383/vulnerable-khyber-agency-polio-volunteers-pull-out-in-wake-of-latest-murder/

Death sentence given in blasphemy case... Imam Ali, 63, a resident of Haroonabad, was found drawing pictures of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) on the walls of his room... He was arrested in 2011... A nephew of Ali’s said that several lawyers had refused to take up the defence case fearing a backlash. The judge also fined Ali Rs100,000. source: http://tribune.com.pk/story/651592/death-sentence-given-in-blasphemy-case/

A Christian couple have been sentenced to death for allegedly sending blasphemous text messages about Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. Shafqat Maseeh, 38, who works as a watchman in the Saint Cathedral School in Gojra, and his wife Shagufta Maseeh, 42, were arrested in July last year, following a complaint by shopkeeper Malik Mohammad Hussain and local authority Anwar Mansoor Goraya. The additional district and sessions court judge Amer Habib pronounced the verdict in the district jail, where the case was heard. Apart from the death sentence, each of the accused has also been ordered to pay a penalty of 100,000 Pakistani Rupees (£615). source: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/pakistan-christian-couple-sentenced-death-allegedly-sending-blasphemous-texts-1443543

Maoists in India, Taliban in Pakistan: http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/india/articles/20140406.aspx

In Pakistan, according to a report released by Movement for Solidarity and Peace, 100 to 700 Christian girls are forced to convert to Islam each year. The girls are usually between the ages of 12 and 25; they are abducted, forced to convert and then married to the abductor or to a third party. source: http://shoebat.com/2014/04/09/muslims-force-almost-1000-christian-women-convert-islam/

A shopkeeper has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a local court for an act of blasphemy in Pakistan's biggest city. source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/pak-shopkeeper-gets-life-term-for-blasphemy-114050901453_1.html

“I killed my daughter as she had insulted all of our family by marrying a man without our consent, and I have no regret over it.” source: http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/arnold-ahlert/horror-in-pakistan-pregnant-woman-stoned-by-family/
The husband of a Pakistani woman stoned to death by her own family in broad daylight outside a Lahore court says police just stood by during the attack. source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27614359
The husband of Farzana Parveen, the Pakistani woman stoned to death for refusing to participate in an arranged marriage, told CNN he killed his first wife so he could marry Parveen. source: edition.cnn.com/2014/05/29/world/meast/pakistani-honor-killing/index.html
(A Love Story from Pakistan: Boy meets girl. Boy marries girl. Boy meets second girl. Boy strangles first girl. Boy marries second girl. Girl's family stones girl for marrying without permission.)

In Pakistan the notoriously pro-Islamic terrorist military and its intelligence agency (the ISI) has succeeded in shutting down criticism from the largest TV news operation (Geo) in the country by using trumped up charges that the station was guilty of blasphemy. This mobilized Islamic conservative groups to attack Geo and its employees. Geo had been criticizing the military for corruption and supporting Islamic terrorism and in response the military went after Geo in April, without success or much cooperation from the courts or other government agencies. The military was angry with the Geo’s TV news channel for accusing the military of being behind an April 19th attack against a prominent TV journalist (Hamid Mir) who frequently criticized the ISI and the army during his Geo show. Mir survived the attack and the army denied it had anything to do with it. Similar attacks have been traced back to the army and ISI in the past. In Pakistan it’s understood that openly criticizing the ISI or army can have unhealthy consequences. The army first tried using jammers to block Geo from being received on military bases and also banned newspapers that were also making these accusations. The military then mobilized its political and media allies to back this attack on Geo, which resulted in the fake blasphemy charges and repetition of these charges in Islamic and pro-military media. On May 26th Geo surrendered and printed and broadcast a groveling apology to the military and ISI over the issue. This use of baseless blasphemy charges in Pakistan is an old problem. The controversy over military support for Islamic terrorism masks yet another national travesty; religious persecution via blasphemy charges. Each year, thousands of Pakistanis, mainly Christians and Shia Moslems, are killed, kidnapped, raped or imprisoned on false charges of blasphemy against Islam. Most of the time there are no formal charges, just various Islamic terrorist or vigilante groups using blasphemy accusations as an excuse to attack non-Moslems. Pakistan is a leader in this kind of religious violence, although Islamic nations, in general, tend to be the most violently intolerant. There are many examples of this. In 2013 a Christian neighborhood in Lahore came under repeated attack by several thousand Moslems when someone accused a local Christian of being disrespectful of Islam. Over a hundred homes were burned down and much property damage was caused. Hundreds of Christians then demonstrated demanding that the government do something to stop this sort of violence. Police then acted and arrested at least 150 suspects but nothing much happened after that. In 2011 during an eight week period two senior Pakistan politicians have been murdered for speaking out against blasphemy laws. While the government went through the motions of prosecuting the arrested killer of the governor of Punjab province, and seeking the killers of the Religious Minorities Minister (a Christian), there was no big public outcry against these crimes. Instead, the killer of the Punjab governor was hailed openly by lawyers and clerics, and quietly by many government officials. The Taliban took credit for the second murder, and promised more, if any officials continued to criticize blasphemy laws. Violent religious intolerance is still very popular in Pakistan. It is a major problem there, one that was inflicted on the country in the late 1970s when the government (at the time run by a general) decided to back Islamic conservatives, who promised that more religion would result in less corruption and a more virtuous society. It didn't work out as expected. Electing religious conservatives to parliament soon revealed that these guys could pray and prey at the same time. Not only were Islamic conservative politicians capable of corrupt behavior, but they were also quicker to use violence, including murder, to get their way. While only a minority of Pakistanis, the Islamic radicals are more willing to kill, and be killed, to achieve their goal (a religious dictatorship and, if neighboring Iran is any example, a corrupt one at that.) Because of their use of terror, the Islamic radicals dominate Pakistani politics. The future is bleak for Pakistan because of all this. In 2009 Pakistani lawmakers made an effort to repeal many of the pro-Moslem laws passed in the last thirty years. These laws (like the ones against blasphemy) make it easier for Islamic radicals to persecute their enemies. Many corrupt officials and politicians use false charges of blasphemy to steal property or damage political or business rivals. source: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htterr/articles/20140528.aspx

Pakistan's long (since the 1970s) support of Islamic terrorism has made it something of a pariah to all its neighbors. This is because Pakistan appears to have lost control of the Islamic terrorist groups it has provided support and sanctuary to for so long. This puts all the neighbors at greater risk of attack by Islamic terrorists who still operate out of bases in Pakistan. Those threatened include India, Afghanistan, China, Iran, the Moslem Central Asian nations and, worst of all, non-Moslem nations worldwide. Especially since September 11, 2001 Pakistan was increasingly and often publically criticized for its terrorism policy. This became more common since 2011 as many of the terrorists it supported have declared war on their host and the neighbors have concluded that Pakistan has lost control of the terrorism monster it created. Now the neighbors are discussing this situation with each other and international organizations. Pakistan appears unable to fix itself or deal with the international terror threat it created. Pakistan is still reluctant to admit it is the cause of so many problems but the neighbors are not being very understanding. China, who supplies a lot of Pakistan's weapons and foreign investment, has told its troublesome neighbor to fix the situation or see China go from being helpful to a hostile neighbor. The other neighbors have had a similar reaction, but given China's place as Pakistan's most important ally, Pakistan can no longer ignore the problem. Yet the Pakistani government really does not have a lot of control over the situation. That's because its intelligence service, the ISI (Inter Service Intelligence agency) is supposed to be controlling the terrorists but is itself out of control and few politicians want to mess with the ISI... Recent attempts by the government to take control of the ISI backfired when the generals said they would not allow it... The U.S. has told Pakistan that it is fed up with getting screwed around by the ISI, and if Pakistan doesn't clean out the ISI, and shut down Islamic terrorists along the Afghan border, NATO, U.S. and Afghan troops will cross the border and do it. On May 2nd, 2011 the U.S. did just that, to kill Osama bin Laden, much to the consternation of the ISI. This was a turning point for Pakistan as the bin Laden raid, although roundly condemned by Pakistani nationalists, did expose the ISI and military leaders as liars. Bin Laden has spent over five years living within sight of the Pakistani military academy and surrounded by retired and active duty officers and their families. This hurt the ISI and the military more than the generals like to admit. While al Qaeda has become the most well-known international terrorist organization, it was not the most successful. That title goes to less well known regional terrorist organizations. The most successful of these has been Pakistani Islamic terror group Lashkar I Toiba (LeT). While al Qaeda has been reduced to a franchising operation, LeT is a real organization with separate departments for recruiting, fund raising, training and operations. The LeT is, like the Taliban, a creation of the Pakistani ISI... It is now generally recognized that ISI is the enemy as much as the Taliban, al Qaeda, LeT, or any number of other Islamic terrorist groups operating out of Pakistan. source: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htterr/articles/20140608.aspx

Every country in the Islamic world has its own Boko Haram. As in Nigeria, where Boko Haram stands for "Western education is forbidden”, extremists in Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province, are saying "no" to education. Last May, the little-known armed group Tanzeem-ul-Islam-ul-Furqan (TIF) had warned all private schools imparting co-education and Western education to immediately shut down in the Panjgur district. The movement started an anti-West campaign, targeting 23 English-language learning centers to shut down and stop imparting co-education and teaching in English, which they say is "Haram (prohibited) in Islam." Actually, according to TIF's rhetoric, not only should boys and girls be segregated in school, but they should not even learn English. The English language is perceived by the group as a vehicle to introduce Western values in Pakistan, and thus dangerous to learn. English is considered particularly dangerous for female students, as it can corrupt their moral principles. source: http://www.americanthinker.com/2014/07/pakistans_boko_haram_learning_english_is_dangerous.html

Last night, I had a sad dream about Malala Yousafzai. I got up earlier than I usually do, just to make this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59JkX7CbKyw

I want to carry a photograph of Malala in my wallet for the rest of my life.

A Pakistani mob killed a female member of a religious minority and two of her granddaughters after another sect member was accused of posting blasphemous material on Facebook... Under Pakistani law, Ahmadis are banned from using Muslim greetings, saying Muslim prayers or referring to their place of worship as a mosque. They also are not allowed to refer to themselves as Muslims... Climate of fear makes it difficult to prosecute blasphemy cases. Judges often hold court sessions inside jails because they are considered the only safe places for the proceedings. Witnesses are reluctant to testify in defense of people accused of blasphemy, fearing they could also be targeted. In May, gunmen in the city of Multan killed a lawyer and a human rights activist who was representing a university professor on trial for blasphemy. source: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/7/28/pakistan-blasphemykillings.html

A Pakistani policeman shot two men in jail on Thursday, killing one accused of blasphemy and wounding another condemned to death on the same charge, lawyers and an activist said. Christian pastor Zafar Bhatti was killed and 70-year-old Briton Muhammad Asghar, who has a history of mental illness, was wounded in the attack. source: www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2014/Sep-25/271941-pakistan-policeman-kills-christian-accused-of-blasphemy.ashx

A teacher was killed and two children injured on Wednesday when a hand-grenade attack took place on a school in the Shabqadar area of Peshawar (Pakistan). Sources said the school had received letters a month earlier which threatened the administration to direct students to wear shalwar kameez instead of pants and shirts. source: http://www.dawn.com/news/1135517/school-teacher-two-children-killed-in-peshawar-blast

Malala Yousufzai may have won the Nobel Peace Prize, but she remains an object of hate for many Pakistanis who view her as a Western agent on a mission to shame her country... Supporters fear Malala could be forced to remain in exile like fellow laureate Salaam, who left the country after Ahmadis were declared non-Muslims. Despite his ground-breaking work in sub-atomic physics, including predicting the existence of the so-called “God particle” later known as the Higgs boson, Salam’s achievements have been expunged from official records and his grave lies desecrated. source: http://gulfnews.com/news/world/pakistan/why-pride-of-pakistan-is-hated-by-many-at-home-1.1399217

A Pakistani Christian woman has been sentenced to hang after she was accused of making 'blasphemous' comments about the prophet Mohammed during an argument. While working as a berry picker in 2009, 46-year-old Asia Bibi got into a dispute with a group of Muslim women who objected to her drinking their water because as a Christian she was considered 'unclean'. Hours after the incident one of the women reported mother-of-five Ms. Bibi to a local cleric, claiming she had made disparaging remarks about the prophet Mohammed during the row. As a result of the allegations, a furious mob arrived at Ms. Bibi's home and savagely beat her and members of her family. She was later arrested, charged with blasphemy and eventually sentenced to death - with her entire family forced to go into hiding after receiving threats on their lives. This week, despite international outrage and hundreds of thousands of people signing a petition for her release, Ms. Bibi lost an appeal to have her sentence overturned, meaning she now faces death by hanging. The shocking case hit global headlines after two prominent politicians who tried to help Ms. Bibi were assassinated, one by his own bodyguard. Lawyers showered the killer with rose petals when he appeared in court and the judge who convicted him of murder had to flee the country. Ms. Bibi's lawyer, Naeem Shakir, said her accusers have contradicted themselves many times since first raising their complaint... Human rights groups say Pakistan's blasphemy law is increasingly exploited by religious extremists as well as ordinary Pakistanis to settle personal scores. The law does not define blasphemy and evidence might not be reproduced in court for fear of committing a fresh offence. There are also no penalties for false accusations. Those accused are sometimes lynched on the spot. If they are arrested, police and the courts often allow trials to drag on for years, as in the case of Ms. Bibi. The delays tend to be caused because officials are afraid of being physically attacked if they release anyone they feel had been wrongly accused of blasphemy... Talking about how she ended up being accused of blasphemy, she says: 'I drank water from a well belonging to Muslim women, using 'their' cup, in the burning heat of the midday sun... 'I, Asia Bibi, have been sentenced to death because I was thirsty. I'm a prisoner because I used the same cup as those Muslim women, because water served by a Christian woman was regarded as unclean by my stupid fellow fruit-pickers.' In the book, Mrs. Bibi describes how - tired of being considered a second-class citizen simply because of her religion and insulted by constant calls for her to convert to Islam - she decided to stand up to the crowd and defend Christianity. Pushing and shoving ensued, forcing Ms. Bibi to flee the scene. When she returned to work five days later she was attacked again, but this time the crowd were accusing her of having insulted the Prophet Mohammed. Battered and bruised, Ms. Bibi was dragged before the local Islamic teacher who told her the only way she could redeem herself was by converting to Islam. Otherwise, he said, she would face death... Over the past four years Ms. Bibi has languished in the high-security District Jail Seikhupura, 22 miles north-west of Lahore, before being moved to a more remote prison. Officials now make her cook her own food every day because they fear that Ms. Bibi has so many enemies - within both the prison population and its staff - that she is at serious risk of poisoning. source: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2796178/

An enraged mob beat a Christian couple to death in Pakistan and burnt their bodies in the brick kiln where they worked on Tuesday for allegedly desecrating pages of Holy Quran, police said. The incident took place at the town of Kot Radha Kishan, some 60 kilometers southwest of the city of Lahore. source: http://www.samaa.tv/pakistan/04-Nov-2014/kasur-christian-couple-burnt-alive-for-blasphemy

Nine Pakistani Christian families have reportedly been forced to leave their houses after a man of their community married a Muslim woman in Sahiwal district of Punjab, the third such incident in the province. source: zeenews.india.com/news/south-asia/_1498551.html

Gunmen opened fire at the residence of a lawyer defending a university lecturer accused of blasphemy and dropped a letter warning him to withdraw from the case. source: http://tribune.com.pk/story/801727/gunmen-attack-residence-of-lawyer-defending-blasphemy-accused/

Four polio workers – including three women – were shot dead and three others wounded in a targeted attack on their vehicle in Eastern Bypass area near Quetta on Wednesday morning. source: tribune.com.pk/story/797395/2

Pakistan has recorded nearly 5,000 deaths attributed to religious intolerance in the last 25 years. These usually involve violence against different forms of Islam (usually Shia) as well as against Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Jews and others.  Most of these 5,000 Pakistani deaths have occurred since September 11, 2001, when it became easier to claim religious fervor as an excuse for killing someone, and get away with it. Religion based violence has been on the increase in Pakistan starting in the 1970s when the government basically legalized a lot of it... Since 2001 there have been over 20,000 terrorism related deaths in Pakistan, nearly all of the victims were other Moslems that Islamic terrorists accused of not being Islamic enough and thus, according to their murderous logic, not Moslems at all and deserving of death. Yet most of these deaths are not classified as resulting from religious intolerance. source: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htterr/articles/20141126.aspx

Pakistan can't rid itself of Islamist terrorists without going after their ISI (Inter-Intelligence Service) protectors. However, it is hard to see how the country's civilian rulers — who serve at the pleasure of the army and ISI — can undertake such a task and still survive to tell the tale. The first thing they would have to do is dial down the India threat and turn their back on the jihadi outfits that have terrorized their neighbor, even if that means defying ISI. That they are far from ready to do so became abundantly clear on Thursday morning, when a Pakistani court handed bail to the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attack. source: theweek.com/article/index/273946/

Pakistan has agreed to ban Haqqani Network and ten other Islamic terrorist organizations that long had sanctuary in Pakistan because these groups only attacked foreigners... It is believed there will be no real action against the terrorist leaders and camps, if only because that would turn these groups into hostile forces inside Pakistan... Just getting this largely symbolic ban required the Americans to use some convincing persuasion on Pakistan. This involved the U.S. agreeing to release a billion dollars for expenses Pakistani security forces have incurred during counter-terrorism operations. source: http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/india/articles/20150119.aspx

Two Pakistani men have been accused of cutting their 40-year-old sister’s eyes out “with a sharp knife” and chopping off her feet, marking the latest high-profile “honor” killing in the Muslim-majority country where such murders are on the rise and many go unreported... Pakistan’s independent Human Rights Commission has revealed that “honor” killings of women have increased by nearly 20 percent in the last few years, from 869 in 2013 to 1,096 last year, adding that most of the victims were shot but also attacked with acid. source: http://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2016/11/04/honor-killing-two-men-pakistan-rip-sisters-eyes-cut-feet-off/

The Pakistani military has allegedly destroyed a major trade center located in the tribal regions of the country after it refused to supply weapons to the terrorist groups, including the Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorist network... Army officers have blown up a two-story business center, which had more than 150 shops and four commercial halls. This incident has occurred in Wana City, the headquarters of South Waziristan, located in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). source: http://www.khaama.com/pakistani-army-destroys-market-for-refusing-weapons-supply-to-taliban-02290

Christian families (living in Pakistan) were rendered homeless by reason of deceitful orders issued by the Cantonment Board. About ten to fifteen families of Christians were forced to vacate their houses followed by two notices issued by the Cantonment Board. In line with details, the Cantonment Board in its first notice had maintained that the Christians must vacate the houses because the land was on fault line and there was danger of an eminent earthquake. The Board had claimed that the house must be vacated on urgent basis, as the buildings were not able to withstand jolts. Later on, the Christian families received another notice claiming that the dues were not paid. The Board had warned that in case the dues were not paid, occupants had to vacate the houses otherwise. The dues payable to the Cantonment Board, totaled to about ten to twelve thousand Rupees. Following the second warning notice, Christians decided to pay the dues, however they were bared form submitting the payable dues. The victims claimed that the concerned authorities did not accept the payment they had tried to submit. Consequently, around fifteen to ten Christian families were forced to vacate their houses. Victimized families whined that police forced them out of their houses. They said that police threw their belonging out of their houses. source: http://www.christiansinpakistan.com/mardan-deceitful-notices-render-christian-families-homeless/

A court in Lahore, Pakistan on Saturday cited lack of evidence to acquit all 115 suspects in the burning of more than 150 houses of Christians in 2013 over alleged blasphemy of the Prophet Muhammad... Blasphemy is punishable by life in prison or even death in Pakistan. The blasphemy law, embedded in Sections 295 and 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code, is frequently misused to target religious minorities – Christians, Shi'as, Ahmadiyyas and Hindus – and allows Islamists and others to justify killings. Extremist Islamists believe that killing a "blasphemous" person earns a heavenly reward. Just an accusation under the controversial law is enough to have a person arrested, and there is no provision to punish a false accuser or a false witness of blasphemy. Some local Muslims seek revenge by making an allegation against his or her adversary who is a non-Muslim. Many who are accused of blasphemy are also often killed by mobs extra-judicially. source: www.christianpost.com/news/p-173696/

Faraz Ahmed Badar was a 26-year-old pharmacist. He worked at the DHQ Hospital in Gujaranwala. He was harassed by a Muslim colleague who did not accept the fact that a Christian could hold a position higher than his own... On 5 September, while he was ending his shift around 2 am, he was attacked with acid by a man with a covered face, who is still untraceable. He was found and transported first to a private hospital, then to the Mayo Hospital in Lahore, where he eventually died on September 15 after 10 days of agony. Both hospitals could not do much to save the young life of the Christian. In addition to very serious burns on his face, the doctors found signs of earlier torture on his body. His father Badar Masih told the British Pakistani Christian Association (Bpca) that it was not the first time that Faraz had been attacked. "There was a lot of jealousy at work – he reports - We live in a culture without mercy where Christians often become victims because of their vulnerable status ". The man tells of repeated episodes of religious discrimination: "He was regularly harassed by a Muslim colleague who did not accept the fact that a Christian could hold a position higher than his own. Ours is a bigoted country and many Muslims believe that all Christians should be scavengers, not managers. They call us 'Chura', which means 'untouchable scavengers' ". Faraz's family reports that a few months ago the young man had been the victim of another episode of violence. Encircled by a group of men wearing masks, they had stuck their boots in his mouth, claiming that "a Christian is not even able to lick their shoes"... We have informed the police of the incident but they have ignored us because we are Christians. source: www.asianews.it/news-en/P-44982.html