Pakistan: Police Refuse to Help Christians Driven Off Their land, “We Have Lost Everything”
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Police in Punjab Province, Pakistan, have refused to assist a Catholic farming family after they were attacked by Muslims demanding they vacate their land, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
Shahnaz Yousaf, a resident of Chak 694/36 GB village in Toba Tek Singh District, Punjab Province, told the Christian Daily news outlet that the owners of the land he leased for farming attacked him and his family while they were harvesting their wheat crop on Apr. 16. The landlords Atif Ali, Khawar Ali and Baber Ali want to get the family out and auction off the land despite an order from the Lahore High Court allowing Yousaf to finish out the lease.
“[We] were continuously harassed and threatened by police officials and henchmen of the landlords to vacate the land,” Yousaf said. Then, on Apr. 16, a group of Muslims armed with guns and weapons arrived on the land as Yousaf was working. “When I tried to stop them, reminding them of the court’s stay order, they attacked me and started hitting me with their guns and batons,” Yousaf said.
“Seeing the commotion, my two brothers and both sisters ran towards me to save me from the attack, but the attackers targeted them as well, resulting in several bone fractures and other injuries to all of us…When we went to the town for medical treatment, the Muslims returned to the fields, harvested our wheat crop and stole the entire produce,” Yousaf said.
The police did nothing to assist Yousaf and his family. “When we reached the police station and told them what had happened in our absence, the officer on duty refused to register our complaint and said that our plight will end only when we surrender to the demand of the Muslim landowners,” Yousaf said.
The family has been left in dire need.
“We have lost everything, our livelihood, our money and most of all the hope of getting justice,” Yousaf said.
Muslim-majority Pakistan ranks seven on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
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