Islamic Tolerance Alert: Already left homeless by a Muslim rampage in August that saw eight Christians burned alive, the remaining Christians of Gojra cannot celebrate Christmas without looking over their shoulders."Pakistan Christians celebrate Christmas in fear," by Elena Becatoros for the Associated Press, December 24:
GOJRA, Pakistan - No Christmas decorations brighten the tent camp sheltering Christians left homeless by the worst violence against minorities in Pakistan this year. Instead, there is a pervasive sense of fear.
The Christians have received cell phone text messages warning them to expect a "special Christmas present," they say, and are terrified of their tents being torched or their church services being bombed.
"Last year I celebrated Christmas full of joy," said Irfan Masih, cradling his young son among the canvas shelters and open ditches of the camp. But now "the fear that we may again be attacked is in our hearts.
"They are threatening us, (saying) 'We will again attack you and will not let you out of homes, we will burn you inside this time,'" he said.
It was the fires that most traumatized Gojra's Christian Colony, a neighborhood in the heart of this Punjabi city about 220 miles (354 kilometers) southwest of Islamabad. In early August, hundreds of Muslims rampaged through the dirt streets, looting and torching homes as panicked residents tried to flee and thick black smoke rose into the air.
Eight Christians died -- seven of them from one family trapped in a burning home.
"We are going to celebrate Christmas in sorrow because the whole family is hurt by this," said Almas Hameed, whose father was shot dead during the riots. His wife, two of his children and members of his brother's family all burned to death.
The attack, which officials said was incited by a banned radical Islamist group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, followed rumors that Christians had torn pages of a Quran, an act considered sacrilegious by Muslims. The ensuing carnage drew condemnation from the Pope and Pakistan's prime minister, and highlighted how religious extremism has left the country's minority groups increasingly vulnerable.
Christians -- Protestants and Catholics among them -- make up less than 5 percent of Muslim-majority Pakistan's 175 million people.
Christians say more than 100 homes were burned and looted in Gojra and the nearby village of Korian. While many homes have been rebuilt using state money, dozens of families are still living in tents, waiting for construction on their houses to finish.
Both those who have moved back into their homes and the ones still in the camp say they are still regularly threatened -- phone calls telling them to stop pressing for those responsible to be convicted, or else; armed men turning up at their homes; text messages on their cell phones promising a "special Christmas present;" rocks thrown at the tents in the night.
"When we sleep at night the fear never leaves our heart," said Safia Riaz, a 30-year-old whose father died of a heart attack during the riots. The violence "has stuck in our minds. Tension remains -- God forbid that it will happen again."
Strict security was being put into place during Christmas, said police officer Mohammed Tahir of the Faisalabad regional police headquarters, who rejected claims that authorities were unable to protect the minority.
Security has been ramped up across the country anyway, as this year Christmas falls during the Islamic month of Muharram, which is often marred by bombings and fighting between Pakistan's Sunni Muslims and its Shiite minority.
But Gojra's Christians have little faith in the police, who were accused of standing by during the worst of August's violence.
"The police already didn't save us before," said Ashar Faras, a 33-year-old who works as a chef in an Islamabad guesthouse....With thanks to JihadWatch
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