Monday, December 3, 2007

Armed Muslim men looted Christian man’s rice crop.

Written by: Jawad Mazhar (ROD)

Mandi Bhaudin, Pakistan, Dec 2nd, (ROD): A Christian cultivator Robby Simon has been robbed off his 7.5 acre of ripened rice crop worth Pak Rs 400,000 (US $ 6667) by 10 armed Muslim men on gun point at village (Chak) No. 37 Tara Tibbi, District Mandi Bhaudin, Punjab, Pakistan during the broad day light on Nov 14th, 2007 at 1400 hours. Culprits are at large as Police fails to serve justice and arrest any of them.

Rays of Development Organization (ROD), a non-profit, non-governmental, non-religious charitable organization, which works for the equal rights of all human kind regardless of their color, creed, sect, race or tongue, probed in to this reprehensible incident.

Yousaf Masih a close kin of Robby Simon told ROD that on Nov 14th, Muhammad Ashraf alias Sadder, Alam Din, Muhammad Azam and Muhammad Sadiq and six other Muslim men armed with rifle AK-47 and deadly 12-Bore Shot Guns, forcibly entered in to the farm house of Christian farmer Robby Simon and tied up his servants Nazir Masih and Muhammad Saleem with ropes.

Masih told ROD that after making the servants hostages, present at the farm house, the culprits brandished their deadly weapons and forcibly started reaping the ripened rice crop with Harvester. Yousaf Masih said that the assailants reaped up the crop within 3.5 hours during the day light. “They finished harvesting and took away the looted rice crop with them, waving fire arms and saying ‘Christians are born to clean manure, therefore go and clean the cesspits and you (Christian) are not supposed to do Cultivation’” said concerned and sobbing Yousaf Masih. He added that the Muslim robbers also blatantly challenged us to do whatever we (Christians) can do against them.

Yousaf Masih expressed his sorrow as saying that the culprits are at large because the police have neither arrested any of the assaulters nor inserted proper sections in the FIR. Yousaf Masih said that Christian farmer Robby Simon filed an application against the robbers at Police Station Kathiyalla, Mandi Bhaudin, and a case with First Information Report (FIR) No. 613/07 was registered under Article 379 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on Nov 17th against the assailants Muhammad Ashraf alias Sadder, Alam Din, Muhammad Azam and Muhammad Sadiq and six unknown Muslims. Masih said that the culprits are the residents of the same village and they are very influential and powerful. He also alleged that the culprits have bribed the local police with Pak Rs 80,000 (US $ 1334), hence police is taking side of the assaulters.

Masih explained that Article 379 is for the small thefts, while in this episode the assailants were armed and they were doing this in the day light by threatening and brandishing deadly fire arms, which is dacoity, and the proper Article in the PPC for the dacoity is Article 395. He went on saying that police is abetting the assaulters and police Investigation Officer; Sub Inspector (SI) Anwer Toppah has blatantly mentioned the area of the looted crop by reducing the original area of 7.5 acre worth Pak Rs 400,000 (US $ 6667) to 4.5 acre worth Pak Rs 100,000 (US $ 1667).

Yousaf Masih also alleged that the influential Muhammad Ashraf alias Sadder and his accomplices are forcibly stopping them from harvesting the 5 acre of sugar cane crop as well.

Chairman of ROD, Ferhan Mazher has condemned this atrocity; he added that Pakistan is the home of people of diverse religions and cultures. He said people from other religious, ethnic or cultural minorities are as much equal Pakistani citizens as Muslims and they deserve the same rights. Therefore no one should think that this is their land and all other people are their slaves or no one should usurp or exploit the rights of other human beings. Chief of ROD maintained that all of us need to learn that we should co-exist peacefully in Pakistan , he also appealed to all the international and national organization to come forward and help ROD in educating and imparting the awareness about the Peace, Harmony, Love and Tolerance in the society.

Report prepared by ROD fact finding including:

Imran Mazher, Ms Khadijah Shah, Adnan Saeed, Nadeem Samuel, Asher Emmanuel, Adil Naseem and Jawad Mazhar

Report recommended by:

Mr Ferhan Mazher
Chairman, Rays of Development Organization (ROD), Sargodha, Pakistan
JawadMazhar.blogspot.com
www.raysofdevelopment.org
00923216032504, 00923216012462, 00923068989406
info@raysofdevelopment.org

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