MUSLIMS RESUME BUILDING ON CHRISTIAN GRAVEYARD

PAKISTAN

September 1 MPBS247 From CDN – Muslims led by a hard-line cleric on Friday (Aug. 27) resumed building on a Christian cemetery in Mandi Bhawaldin, desecrating more graves in spite of a local government order to halt construction, according to the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA). Radical Muslim cleric Mirza Abdul Ghani had built a mosque on the Christian graveyard off New Rasool Road in Mandi Bhawaldin after allegedly occupying the land 16 years ago, when area Christians were too intimidated to object, said Salamat Zia of APMA. The cleric’s alleged desecration of more of the graveyard land around the Masjid Ahle-Sunnat-Wal-Jamaat mosque began three months ago, Zia said, with a basement and what appear to be shops completed. On Aug. 6 Zia led a seven-member Christian delegation to meet with area officials, and after inspecting the site, local administrative officers issued directives to stop the illegal encroachments. For a few days construction stopped, Zia said, but last week it began anew. Khalid Gill, chief organizer of APMA in Punjab Province, said that Muslim leaders threatened Christians who objected to the construction. “They threatened that in case Christians protested against the resumption of construction they would also carry out a protest rally against Christians, and Muslim clerics said Christians would be responsible for the consequences,” Gill said.