_WORLD WATCH______________________________
________________Pakistan_______________
Rape as a weapon
Christian girls are targets
Christian girls have been targeted for kidnapping and rape by Muslim extremists in Pakistan, according to the US-based International Christian Concern.
The group recounted the case of 14-year-old Naira Nadia, who was kidnapped by Muslim neighbors after she shared her Christian faith with schoolmates, including the daughter of one of her accused kidnappers, Maqsood Ahmed Shiekh. Shiekh claims the girl had converted to Islam and wished to leave her Christian home. The girl’s whereabouts are currently unknown. When local police failed to investigate the family’s complaint, a Pakistani human-rights group helped Naira’s family register the crime with higher authorities, who are now investigating their claim and searching for their daughter.
International Christian Concern said the rape of Christian women based on their faith is not uncommon in Pakistan. In May of last year, eight Christian girls were raped by four Muslim men, and when their families pressed charges, they were forced to relocate after receiving threats.
Voting system protested
Religious segregation at the polls
Christians in Pakistan continued to boycott local elections, following up on an “electoral strike” during parliamentary voting last December by refusing to participate in a March ballot for other parliamentary seats.
Under the present system of voting, introduced in 1979, Christians can only vote for Christian candidates and Hindus for Hindus, and so forth. In a joint statement released in March, the Pakistani bishops’ conference and the country’s Protestant leadership said the electoral boycott was a response to a voting system that is “unethical, unconstitutional, and illogical.”
Citizens belonging to the Muslim majority, the statement explained, are entitled to vote for several different local officials and parliamentary representatives. But members of the Christian minority can only cast one vote, for a minority seat. “This is a violation of Article 25 of the Constitution of Pakistan which guarantees equality of citizens,” the Christian leaders pointed out. “The present system is a violation of human rights; a mode of elections based on religious apartheid.”