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Pakistani Christians asked to choose: ‘conversion’ or ‘death’
10-09-2008
At least nine Pakistani Christians of Shantinagar, a Christian village in Punjab province, have reportedly received letters threatening them to convert to Islam on September 3, 2008, the Minorities Concern of Pakistan (MCP) has reported, reports Sheraz Khurram Khan, special correspondent for ASSIST News Service in Pakistan.
The letters threatened death or eviction from the area in case the recipients did not convert to Islam.
Last year, some Christian residents of Charsadda, Mardan and Peshawar in the conservative North West Frontier Province of Pakistan received letters threatening them to convert to Islam in 10 days or face death.
Some 10 villagers of Shantinagar received an identical message twice last year, the MCP's report said. The fresh letters, it said, did not mention any deadline.
"Don't think we have forgotten you. We are after you and we will teach you a lesson....," the MCP report quoted the letters as saying.
In 1997 the Christian village of Shantinagar was burnt and destroyed by a mob of about 2000 after Christians were allegedly accused of desecrating the Quran, the Muslim holy book, it said.
It added: "In the attack, about 2000 Bibles were also burnt."
"A judicial inquiry was held but still the findings of the inquiry are not made public.
"Moreover, police arrested 97 persons in this connection but nobody was convicted," it said.
The report said that in many cases, Christian, Hindu and Sikh women have been kidnapped and forcibly married to Muslim men after conversion.
Minority rights groups' estimate that around 600 people a year are forcibly converted to Islam.
