Pakistan Accuses Girl of Blasphemy for Misspelling

Young Christian girl beaten and expelled from school for ‘blasphemous’ spelling mistake

On Thursday a simple spelling mistake by a Christian teenage girl in a test at school resulted in a chain of events that casts severe doubt on the suitability of David Cameron’s £650 million in education aid to Pakistan.  The teenage girl, Faryal Bhatti, took part in a school Urdu test around a poem in praise of Muhammad, and made a tiny spelling mistake that resulted in a word roughly equivalent to ‘damn’.

"Faryal spelt the word  "naat" (hymn), in the Urdu language  as "laanat" (curse) during an examination  in which she was asked a  question about a poem written in praise of prophet Muhammad (PBUH)."

Her teacher, Fareeda Bibi, spotted it, recalled her, scolded and physically beat her.  She then reported the matter to senior officers at the school.  Overnight, word spread and male students at the school, aided by some local Muslim religious leaders, held rallies the next day demanding the girl be driven from her home and have criminal charges filed against her.  At prayer sessions that day, Imam’s demanded that not only the girl, but her entire family should be punished.  Officials called a meeting of the school and religious leaders where the girl and her mother were required to appear.  They apologized and said that it was just a simple spelling mistake, but to no avail.  The next day, not only did the school expel her, but her mother, a nurse was moved by authorities from her job in a nearby hospital to another hospital much further away from the school. 

This is not an isolated incident.  Christian and other minority children in Pakistani schools are forced to take Islamic lessons, often face pressure to convert or do Islamic worship, sometimes with beatings, and have to read textbooks that erase their faith’s contributions to history and the Pakistani state, and also often denigrate or demonise their own faiths.  

The head of human rights organisation BPCA (British Pakistani Christian Association), Wilson Chowdhry said ‘This is the education system that Cameron has decided to pour UK taxpayers money into with very lax, if any, monitoring on their use, especially in relation to minority faiths.  Part of the rationale of the aid was supposed to be to strengthen mainstream education as a bulwark against the Madrasa educational establishments of extremist Islamic groups.  This latest incident demonstrates that too often there is all too little difference between the ‘mainstream’ and ‘extremist’ educational establishments in Pakistan.  David Cameron and the coalition government have in effect committed £650 million of UK taxpayers money to a system that routinely and systematically discriminates against and oppresses children of minority religions, and effectively increases Islamic extremist practices.  We call on the Cameron government in the strongest possible terms to reconsider its pledge of aid to the Pakistani education system, especially in the light of Imran Khan’s recent warning about the corrupting effect of much Western aid on Pakistani society.   Without extremely stringent controls and monitoring, it is highly likely that even without any of the regular brand of corruption, Cameron will have pledged hundreds of millions of tax-payers money to an education system that effectively furthers Islamic extremism and imperialism at the expense of minority faith children.’

In the light of these conditions on the ground, BPCA has already floated the idea in recent months of bursaries for Pakistani students with strict conditions and on the ground monitoring of the lessons in the schools involved.

http://www.britishpakistanichristians.co.uk/appeals.php

Please sign our international petition calling for Britain to use foreign aid as a lever for change:

http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/noukaidtopakistan

Here is a further petition for UK residents only:

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/

Listen to Wilson's interview on Premier Christian Radio:

http://www.premier.org.uk/news/current/Girl%20beaten%20for%20blasphemous%20spelling%20error.aspx

Update on Iranian Pastor Youcef- NOT GOOD

Youcef's close personal friend was interviewed. You can listen to it HERE

Here's an article by the ACLJ:

Iran Upholds Christian Pastor’s Apostasy Conviction: Execution as Early as Wednesday

Just days after Iran released two Americans accused of spying in Iran, an Iranian court has upheld the apostasy conviction and execution sentence of Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani.

The 11th branch of Iran’s Gilan Provincial Court has determined that Pastor Nadarkhani has Islamic ancestry and therefore must recant his faith in Jesus Christ. Iran’s supreme court had previously ruled that the trial court must determine if Pastor Youcef had been a Muslim before converting to Christianity.

However, the judges, acting as terrorists, who have a hostage, demanded that he recant his faith in Christ before even taking evidence. The judges stated that even though the judgment they have made is against the current Iranian and international laws they have to uphold the previous decision of the 27th Branch of the Supreme Court in Qom.

When asked to “repent” by the Judges, Youcef stated, “Repent means to return. What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?” The judges replied, “To the religion of your ancestors, Islam.” To which he replied, “I cannot.”

It is reported that Pastor Youcef was able to see his children for the first time since March and was in good spirits speaking of how he longed to serve the church upon his release.

Pastor Youcef will be brought to the court for two additional “hearings” on September 27th and 28th for the sole purpose of being called upon to recant his Christian faith. The ACLJ’s sources report although Pastor Youcef’s attorneys will attempt to appeal the case, there is no guarantee that the provincial court will not act on its own interpretation of Shariah law and execute pastor Youcef as early as Wednesday.

Technically, there is no right of appeal, and under Iran’s interpretation of Hadith and Shariah law, Pastor Youcef is to be given three chances to recant. He has already been asked to recant yesterday and today, and is scheduled to be asked again tomorrow after which point he could be executed at any time.

We are continuing to press for the international community to take note of Pastor Youcef’s situation and call for his unconditional release. We are also continuing to work with Members of Congress and are urging the State Department to get involved to save the life of this Christian Pastor.

9.27.2011 Update: Listen to a report from a close personal friend of Pastor Youcef, a Member of the Council of Elders for the Church of Iran, on the Jordan Sekulow Show here.

9.28.2011 Update: Pastor Youcef returned to court today, and for the third time refused to recant his Christian faith. Learn the latest updates on Pastor Youcef's tragic situation here.

9.29.2011 Update: Pastor Youcef's attorney in Iran, Mohammad Ali Dadkah, firmly denies that the court has agreed to overturn Pastor Youcef's death sentence. He believes this is a lie spread by the Iranian secret service, even to members of his own family, to stop the media from reporting this case.

SIGN THE PETITION  calling on Secretary of State, Clinton, to get involved.

EMAIL Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee, the representative of Iran to the United Nations, asking him to demand the unconditional release of Youcef Nardarkhani or call 212-687-2020

Please share Pastor Youcef’s situation with anyone you know, and pray for his release.