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| Local women walk past the locked house of a Christian girl in a suburb of Islamabad, Pakistan on Monday, Aug. 2012 |
To some, she's an innocent victim, an apparently mentally challenged Christian girl swept up by a rising tide of irrational Islamic extremism. To others, she's God's enemy, guilty of a crime so vile the only suitable punishment is death.
On Monday, Pakistani police arrested the girl, known only by her first name, Ramsha, after accusations that she burned pages of the Koran, Islam's holy book. In Pakistan, it is a crime to utter derogatory statements or insult the Prophet Muhammad or the Koran in any way. Blasphemy convictions carry an automatic death sentence.
The accusations, made by the girl's neighbors in a mixed Christian-Muslim neighborhood, sent area Muslims into a fury, with some police reports suggesting an angry mob of hundreds of men descended on her home demanding authorities arrest her and charge her with blasphemy.
They then allegedly went on a rampage, attacking the girl's family and setting Christian houses on fire. The girl's parents are now in protective custody and, according to reports, several Christian families have left the neighborhood, an impoverished district in the country's capital, Islamabad.
Police officials put the girl in jail for 14 days, but suggested the charges might be dropped for a lack of evidence. When she was brought to jail, she reportedly had a shopping bag filled with religious and Arabic-language papers, but it was unclear whether the papers were pages of the Koran.
Some have said the girl is mentally challenged and suffers from Down's syndrome.
The case is drawing worldwide condemnation, including from senior officials in the United States, a key military and political ally that gives billions in annual aid to Pakistan.
On Monday, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland referred to the case as "deeply disturbing."
"We urge the government of Pakistan to protect not just its religious minority citizens, but also women and girls," she said.
Critics say Pakistan's blasphemy laws are often misused and applied vindictively, often as a way to target minorities.
"It has been exploited by individuals to settle personal scores, to grab land, to violate the rights of non-Muslims, to basically harass them," said the head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Zora Yusuf.
Pakistan's blasphemy laws have met with controversy in the past. Last year, a prominent Pakistani politician who advocated reforming the law was gunned down and killed by his own bodyguard while leaving an upscale Islamabad cafe frequented by westerners.
Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari, has ordered an investigation into Monday's incident.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
72 comments:
Na wa ooo. All dis Muslim dude
Na wa ohhhhhh!
Ya wa de oh.
This is really absurd and alarming. Wat is this world turning in2, even if d girl doesnt ve down syndrome, she's just a minor and she shd be xplained to abt wat she did was wrng and not be criticized as been a devils avocate. She needs counseling απϑ not death.
Foolish ppl!! They jst ended Ramadan and now this?! Tufiaaaaa!!! Kill them nau. That's what most of u knw best. The fact she's a child and disabled doesn't even touch your hearts. Bloody animals.
Always ready to kill christians..troublesome people
Na wa ohh
Yes. Islam is indeed a religion of peace *coughs*
All dis stupid things neva stop
Why do some muslims fight for their God? The little girl tore some pages of the quoran so what? What crime is worse than going to the house of God and blowing it up including everyone there and also bibles yet,christains have not retaliated. Most times,i just wonder if these people were created by the same loving and merciful God i serve.
For crying out loud she is a little girl
Dis ppl ar poisonous nd taks law into deir own hands.. Hw many has God killed frdoin wrong. Religion fanats, tink twice nd stop terrorising odas.
may God help help.Amen
I bet if the case was vice versa as per a bible being burnt, this won't be the case and that's very similar to what we face here in Nigeria. Why take it out on all Christians?
Wicked people using religion as an excuse to kill and destroy!!!
Na real wa
Naby...!!!!
Btw, linda where are my bikinis? -_- I'll come to ur house ooooooo
Ehhhh ehhhh ehhhhh
Ok ooooo
Lemme wait small
Hope our Boko bros won't return d favour in Naija oh abeg we r still in d spirit of salla or watever they call it
God is watching...even situations whr dey use bible pages as wrizlers 2 smook n thr dey r sentencing a kid 4 tearing their holy book. God will surely judge d wicked.
Muslims. Dey r d same al over d world. My room mates muslims, ve terrible attitude ehn. I usually pray 4 dem cs I'm done dissn dem. Wonder wat dey learn. Vn wen dey were fasting dey were still terrible. Lord take control.
backward barbaric people
Lord have mercy!
Hmmmmm, na wa oooo, let's still thank God for 9ja
You have just read one version of the story from ''yahoo news''. We should ask, is there not something to this than what is presented on the yahoo page? Anyway, it is still unfortunate that a minor of that age should be put to death for such an offence.
May God help us.
Lord have mercy.
LIB JUDGES!!!!!!
I trust you'll judge the case
Hypocrites!!!!!!!!
U all are just fools including the blogger. I bet u don't know the root of all this. Just read it online and u putting it all up.
You are just inciting voilence
Bunch of rubbish, sick, useless and stupid fooooooools.
Are u always @every news scene?ode!,dats Y its information,news!and wats d blogger's own in d mata?....by their fruits...(Complete it urself)
So will killing de girl change anything, will killing her make dem rightous, u calln people fools be careful ok, e be like sey u dey support killing of children. God will take care of his people.
God will save us 4rm dis people. Y are they always fighting for their God?
Linda, why is it that you are always deaf and blind to the attrocities committed by other religions (i.e. the killings of muslims in Burma and China, the war in Syria, the plight of Palaestinians in the hands of the Isrelis etc). You need to drop biase from you reporting or you end up being just as pathetic as those you try to rubbish.
@ nsikan,i know u- are so vexed dat u- can't even hold ur- tongue..if sum1 burns d bible wld U̶̲̥̅̊ let go jst like dat..she has 2 pay ƒσя her deeds weda dwnsyndrome or not
@ ibrahim,av U̶̲̥̅̊ brushed dis mornin?? Cos ♍γ̲̣̣̥ armpit smells beta..pls,when next U̶̲̥̅̊ wana comment,close U̶̲̥̅̊я
Mouth yl talkin,dnt want virus on dis blogspot##--i Ơ̴̴͡.̮Ơ̴̴̴͡ U̶̲̥̅̊ enjoyin U̶̲̥̅̊я
Own syd of U̶̲̥̅̊я
STUPIDITY..
U didn't even answer my question..i say if it i̶̲̥̅̊s d bible sumbody burnt wld U̶̲̥̅̊ christians take it likely with d person?
Firstly,d best a christian wld do i̶̲̥̅̊s d worst he wld do A̶̲̥̅̊₪d̶̲̥̅̊ dats FORGIVE,GUIDE A̶̲̥̅̊₪d̶̲̥̅̊ COUNSEL##i guess dats not I̶̲̥̅̊n̶̲̥̅̊ U̶̲̥̅̊я
QuraN??##and I Ơ̴̴͡.̮Ơ̴̴̴͡ U̶̲̥̅̊ are avn challenges with spellin U̶̲̥̅̊я
Name--its "ibrahim not ibrahinm"--
U have nonsense. & u r fool
I think it was in early 2000, a certain young man Gideon Akaluka was beheaded in Kuruna, Kano State because a water vendor who had come to sell them water raised alarm that he saw torn copies Koran in their compound. Na their way.
@ ibrahim,did a dog bite U̶̲̥̅̊ ??or U̶̲̥̅̊ bit d dog??..or i̶̲̥̅̊s dis d natural U̶̲̥̅̊ ..actin like a bull?--"mad-cow-disease"??aint showin U̶̲̥̅̊ no-RED..so b calm lil-bull...point of correction--its " U̶̲̥̅̊ av πφ sense A̶̲̥̅̊₪d̶̲̥̅̊ U̶̲̥̅̊ are a fool"--well,I'm happy U̶̲̥̅̊ tuk 2 correction sha##at least, U̶̲̥̅̊ now knw ow 2 spell-ur-name##tongue-out##
Linda Ɣ☺Ʊ ∂eγ̲̣ fall mai hand,Ɣ☺Ʊ r nt meant 2 post stuff lyk diz.diz will only pull †ђξ muslims α̲̅πϑ christians apart.Plz dnt blame †ђξ act of a nation Φ₪ †ђξ entire muslims in †ђξ world.itz in evry religion,dr iz Alwayz a Bad egg.nt only in islam,it is also in christianity,hindu e.t.c...wat we shuld b fighting for is a gud relationship btw both religion in 9ja not starting an Internet war that can even start a war if we are not careful.....God Bless 9ja
U̶̲̥̅̊ Я̩̥̊ε̲̣̣̣̥ simply an idiot 4 referring to everyone as fools
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Rilly dont know what to say after reading all these comments but killing the lil girl is nt the solution neither is it an option. If u ave blood running through ur veins u will nt wish her dead.
Hahahhahahahahha. Mehnnn u maketh perfect sense. Ibrahim must b a boko-haramist. Lord help us.
Anon 10:59PM..u are d biggest fool..hw dare u call people fools..its obvious u are one of them..ode..wicked soul..mtshewww
It actually beats my imagination that Muslims cannot call black black, much as I agree Linda shouldn't be posting such stories/news. But that's what's really killing our country, no "Muslim" is man enough to openly condemn the acts of evil muslims(BH). God help us! Amen
Ode,mumu...if she sees it she will post it don't attack Linda,change ur shallow mind and kip praying for d wicked piple...don't attack Linda she's jst doing her job...Mtshewwwwww
@ ibrahim, i really do pity you if you re one of those that feels a human being should be killed for burning the koran.It shows how retarded you are.I ve often heard that islam is a religion of peace,it is imbeciles like you with hateful soul that give the religion a bad name.To answer your question,if a bible is burnt I or any right thinking christian wld neva advocate for the persons's death cos OUR GOD is capable of passing the appropriate judgement ,he doesnt need our help.He is the Almighty,Ominipresence,Ominiscience and Omipotent GOD!!!
There is no need to blame linda or any1 dat comments on d issue. I av muslim friends who av common sense nd know some things are wrong. I eat with them, sleep over at their homes nd m not scared. The problem is ignorance on d part of both religions, we av become so indoctrinated with d teachings dat we 4get the real basis of religious teachings nd doctrines. I won't blame muslims who feel d girl should b punished, y would she burn d quoran, would she burn a bible. We all know aw much d Muslims reverence d quoran. And d girl knows d country she is 4rm, even christ would not support such stupidity. But its babaric to sentence an 11yr old to death, she must really av been ignorant. I hope nd pray she is 4given. She's a little girl who is just starting her life, m sure she would av learnt her lessons.
I was born in a muslim family, but atm I go to church and stuff, I believe that muslims(not all but most) are very mean and judgemental.
Let's turn the cases, if a "retarded" muslim 11 yr old burns a bible, christians won't even bother, theyl just forgive and pray 4 d child, this world is just sad, islamic extremes is actually a major cause of the worlds problems :(
Not all Muslim are terrible, and d lady that talk about her room mate been terrible because she is a Muslim, it may just be that ur roommate as a terrible attitude as a person an not d religion. I don't know wat is wrong with people now, first is d bokoaram people and now it. I'm a Muslim an d God i worship don't need trillion of people to fight his fight all of dis people are just using d religion as a excuses to portray their wicked act.
U re a fool 4 saying dat, idiot
Its is very sad and disturbing both the lil girls' issue and LIB readers comments.
I am a Muslim and as a fact i know violence is not accepted except in self defence.
Killing a lil girl over her belief to me is absolutely wrong as i was taught God said "Tell them don't Force them" then why killing innocents even in their sacred homes. This is barbaric and uncalled for
As for most of the comments here i have nothing to say and no one to blame other than the few people who kill millions hiding under the blanket of our religion.
Last time i checked God is the only One who can judge so why judging people and condemning them to death knowing judging is a sin in Islam not to talk of taking someone else's life. May All-Mighty Allah forgive them and judge them accordingly.
My opinion might look foolish or cause another spark here but my sincere opinion to Linda is that she should not post things like this again we are all in a very fragile position and as much as people might want to deny it retaliation is beginning to ring in some Christians mind and what happens next is that they attack the Innocent Muslims who will in return strike back and we all know what will start and at the end of the day the BH guys that started this will sit somewhere probably in Chad watching this and will eventually win i honestly don't know a way out of this all i just wish for is that these guys have to pay dearly for this crimes and all these violence should just stop.
To all Christians who has lost fellow brothers and sisters to these BH guys i am terribly sorry and i believe justices shall be done
Dear All,
MUSLIM simply means Submission to the will of Allah (God). Any man that claims to be muslim and his attributes, attitude, character and way of life in general contracdicts above definition of Muslim does so in futility. I am Muslim and i categorically state that the Quran does not empower no one to kill his fellow human being just because he is of another faith. Let it be known that Muhammed (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) was once saved by a Christian King during the early days of his propagating Islam. Muslims should stop killing Christians (Nigeria) and Christians should stop killing Muslims (Western World, Isreal) just as Bhuddists should stop killing Muslims (Burma, China etc). Remember, Hell Fire is REAL.
So if no one posts things like this, how will the world be aware of and be able to rescue ppl like this little girl?
Stop trying to be the "holy one" here, you want things like this to be hidden abi? Ure just a hypocrite!
My dear, Israelis are not Christians...
Am sure u are born by mistake,u dis idiot.
You J̲̣̣̣U̶̲̥̅̊§τ̲̅ spoke it all....GBAM!
Lmao!! 'Ibrahinm' no get reply. Illiterate, giving muslims a bad name. Nice 1 @ Nsikan and Zaynab
Dear linda ikeji,
I think it is highly unfair to publish news like this.This is happening in Pakistan and i don't think it has any business with Nigerians.Your just putting Petrol to fire.It will be better if you leave religious post out of your blog content.As for Nigerians who see this as an opportunity to start a fight about religion,I think we should all grow up and respect each others religion.Thank you
My Broda or is it sista thanx 4 ur big heart 2wards unity, but if u r a xtian n I Nigeria, den surely u. Haven't had any experience of wat dis guys Can do. Whether u shut up or u don't, dis ppl aint gon shut up as u can c dey nid evry optunity 2 manifest dia tru colors. As 4 ur concerns d worst xtians will do. Is dialogue about it or mayb vent it out lyk we r doin here. if it exceeds dat, den u can tell we're it started 4rm. Dnt get me wrong there r nyc muslims but wit d extremism I c, I dnt kno dis days.
Don't worry sweets u r ignorant but I'll educate u a little, Jihad is a verry islamic tin n if u r a true muslim, then u'll promote it however u can so wen ur lucky 2 b wit sum muslims who are humane n treat u gud, dntgo abt shoutin it lyk its an entitlement. U won't live 2 tell dis story if u try walking some places in d north so pls. Allow those who want 2 lament 2 do so
Shut up n allow linda jor, if she had 2 write abt Nigeria alone do u tink there'll b space enuf 4 d multiple atrocities dat are goin on. I can tell u dat I kno not all muslims support d killings of d boko haramists but, u guys are so few n I guess so silent u can't effect any change. Wen it really comes down 2 it. U'll all just hav 2 join dem or break out n so far so gud, I haven't seen any muslim group or persons who hav come outrightly 2 say stop dis act of wickedness. Its sad.
My Broda or is it sista thanx 4 ur big heart 2wards unity, but if u r a xtian n I Nigeria, den surely u. Haven't had any experience of wat dis guys Can do. Whether u shut up or u don't, dis ppl aint gon shut up as u can c dey nid evry optunity 2 manifest dia tru colors. As 4 ur concerns d worst xtians will do. Is dialogue about it or mayb vent it out lyk we r doin here. if it exceeds dat, den u can tell we're it started 4rm. Dnt get me wrong there r nyc muslims but wit d extremism I c, I dnt kno dis days.
Till religion is wiped off the face off this planet, news like this will not stop.
Christians, Muslims and monotheist are all liars, hypocrites, killers, child molesters, sexist and murderous pigs.
What good comes from your religious extremism or fanaticism?
Now you murder children.
Your time is coming, this isn't about Christians against Muslims or vic versa. Aslong as you look another human in the face and don't see them as flesh and blood like yourself and respect their life, then you are scum and your wickedness will consume, you beliefs will fail you.
Turn away from brainwash and find common sense.
Illuminated
Bullcrap!!! Muslim xtremist my crap ...!
Its a pity
God help us all..Amen
@Ibrahim, if the bible was burnt, we wud not care, cos the power in the word of our God isn't in the written words, its in the spoken words! So the words in the bible has no meaning wen its not spoken or put 2 effective use! Therefore, burning the bible means nothing atall!
I think Muslims shud undderstand this point, and wen dey do, burning d Koran will not mean anything atall and shudnt hold water! What if one photocopyd a Koran? will one be crucified if one burned one's photocopied piece? How about when one's house catches fire, can one be crucified because one's Koran was also burnt in the fire? These r the things Muslims need 2 understand Ibrahim, and stop all dez unnecessary killings lik bloodd hungry pple! Msheww
«~DORA»
The world we live in is a vry wicked one but we look to God for the strength to endure n to serve him wit all we have. We pray HE saves the life of the lytl girl but if HE allows her to die, may HE give her family the strength to endure. There is notin we can do abt d situation but pray 4 God to bring His Kingdom dat will put an end to all wickednes. *Amen*
And yet dey would be acting like as if they are the holy humans on earth
We need more of people like u, love ur comment,u be correct person!
@ tolud...aaaaahhhh i pity u, u berra shine ur eyes wella and open ur brain too, do not b decieved by eatin and sleeping over. The day of handing u over to b matcheted n burnt will come, hope dey remember the food u ate wit dem (tuwo shinkafi)
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