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Christian family forced to flee Wah

* Family threatened after 11-year-old inadvertently throws away copy of the Holy Quran

By Waqar Gillani

LAHORE: A Christian family has been forced to leave Wah Cantt for fear of violence after an 11-year-old girl accidentally threw a copy of the Quran in the garbage.

The family of Tasneem Dean, a boiler engineer, left the Asafabad locality of Wah Cantt in August after an ‘agreement’ between the local Saint Thomas Catholic Church and the khateeb of Central Lala Rukh Mosque, Maulana Muhammad Ishaq. This was done in collaboration with local administration and police officials for the safety of the family, whose house local people had threatened to torch.

The girl was at home alone with her aunt when she unintentionally put an old copy of the Holy Quran in the garbage.

According to the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement, a Lahore-based non-government organisation, and information gathered by Daily Times, Mr Dean had an interest in studying religious books and had inherited the copy of the Quran from his father and grandfather, who were clergymen.

A neighbour, Ansar Bibi, spotted the book in the trash and got angry and spread the news in the neighbourhood. This caused anger among locals and the family was threatened.

Local police called the family and after an initial inquiry, agreed that the incident had been a mistake and decided there was no basis for a blasphemy case. Maulana Ishaq also accepted that it was a mistake.

However, locals were angry and the family were at risk of being attacked. The local mosque, church and peace committee decided that the best thing for the family to do would be to move to another town, even though Mr Dean worked at a factory near his house.

On August 3, the agreement was signed by the chairman of the peace committee, the local Punjab Assembly member, local police station head, three clerics and a representative of the local Catholic church.

Mr Dean told Daily Times that he was obviously scared and had left the city in the best interest of his family. “There are a number of Afghans and Pathans in the area who are fundamentalists,” he said.

He said he did not want to go back or follow up the case. Asked whether he had felt secure in the presence of police, he said, “The police has a tradition of coming late. How can I and my family feel safe if the country’s president is not secure in the present circumstances?”

Maulana Ishaq told Daily Times that Asafabad locals had been very aggressive towards the family and the agreement was for their safety. He said people had threatened to set fire to the house and that their anger was hard to control. It was therefore necessary for the family to go away. However, he added, a clergyman of any religion should introduce his family to the holy books of all religions.

The local police station house officer (SHO), Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam, said it was difficult to control the religious emotions of the community. However, he said that local clerics were responsible for keeping such situations under control. He said they should try to present the true picture rather than trying to inflame sentiments. He appreciated the role of Maulana Ishaq in helping keep the family safe.

Mr Aslam said moving had been in the best interest of the family. “Otherwise, they might face a dangerous situation anytime,” he said. “Somebody could have killed them by now.” He repeatedly stressed that it was the responsibility of the ulema to control religious passions in such situations and to stop any abuse of the law.

According to CLAAS, the case is a clear example of how lack of education and intolerance, as well as religious fundamentalism, can result in people getting unnecessarily emotional without knowing the facts.

Several civil society groups and human rights organisations have protested against the blasphemy law, which has been repeatedly used to victimise minority groups as well as Muslims.

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