Dear Friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the death of a 17-year-old Christian student, after the continuous hateful remarks of a teacher. The student was killed for drinking water from the school’s water cooler. Police still refuse to book the schoolteacher and head master for spreading religious hate among the students.
This is the second case of a Christian (student), beaten to death by Muslim students for touching the water cooler tap, after Asia Bibi, a Christian woman, was sentenced to death for taking water from the tap, During the past three months, three Christian students from various schools were forced to leave for being the Christians studying in Muslim schools.
CASE NARRATIVE:
[The information is collected from Pakistan Minority Watch, Social Action Transformation of Humanity – SATH, Times of Ahmad, Pakistan Christian Post]
The religious pogrom and disrespect of others faiths have become a daily occurrence in the country of majority Muslims. The shrinking space for minority particularly the religious minority to co-exist spell chaos and anarchy in the society.
A 17-year-old Christian student, Sharoon Masih, son of Elyasib Masih, got admission in MC Model school, Boraywala, Vehari district, Punjab, for the 9th grade in mid August. On the first day, August 27, he did not have the school uniform, but he was allowed to attend the class. As he entered the classroom, the Muslim class teacher, Mr. Nazir Mobel, introduced Sharoon as “Choorha”, a derogatory word used for sanitary workers or manual scavengers. The teacher sarcastically said, ‘look; now Choorhas will also study in school’.
After the class teacher’s remarks, nobody allowed Sharoon to sit with them. He was allowed to stand at the corner of the room.
The next day, his father did not allow him to go to school until he purchases his uniform. Masih also told his mother that all the students hate him and use derogatory words against his religion so he will not go school; some are pressurizing him to convert to Islam.
After his father purchased his uniform, Sharoon attended school, but on many occasions he was warned not to use water from the cooler.
On August 30, Masih took water from the school cooler during the break, which infuriated the Muslim students. They attacked him and beat him until he died.
His body was lying on the floor for some time, and no teacher or the head-master came out from their rooms to send him to hospital. Sharoon’s father took the body to the hospital, where doctors announced that he had died some 45 minutes before.
While the exact number of Sharoon’s assailants is not known, school authorities say only four persons were involved. One student was arrested, Ali Raza, who is a Martial Arts performer, and whose judo moves have proved to be fatal. Three other attackers, according to the police, are at large.
According to Sharoon’s family members, the police filed a First Information Report (FIR), on their own, without consulting them. The police did not register a case against the head-master of the school and the class teacher who did not send the injured boy to hospital. Christian organisations blame the teachers for the killing, as they spread hate against Christians.
According to Sharoon’s mother, the boys of his class used to threaten him with dire consequences if he dares sit with them. “Sharoon and I cried every night as he described the daily torture he was subjected to. He only told me about the abuse and violence he was facing. He did not want to upset his father because he had such a caring heart for others”.
One of Sharoon’s classmates reportedly told him, “You’re a Christian, don’t dare sit with us if you want to live.” The hatred against the only Christian boy in the school was such that as he was being mauled and beaten to death by a crowd of boys, the teachers and administration stood watching, complicit of the murder which unfolded under their watchful gaze. In fact, one of the suspended teachers had the moral audacity to claim that he was ‘reading the newspaper and didn’t notice the commotion’.
The world has hardly forgotten Mashal Khan who was lynched at the hands of his classmates and teacher when Sharoon Masih was murdered in the same manner.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
One is reminded of the case of Asia Bibi, back in June 2009, when she was asked to fetch water while out working in the fields, and a group of Muslim women labourers objected, saying that as a non-Muslim she should not touch the water bowl. Since then she is in the prison, a sessions court sentenced her to death, then Lahore high court rejected her appeal against her death sentence. For more than four years, her case of appeal in Supreme Court is pending, but she cannot even get bail.
Extreme religiosity that elicits murder is overlooked by the state and judiciary in Pakistan as violence in the name of religion is a sensitive issue that may infuriate the religious clergy and the vote bank of the politicians. The murder of a member of a minority is trivialized and even normalized as just another murder. The local administration also often politicize the issue by allowing impunity to take precedence over minority rights.
The hatred against religious minorities are increasingly common in the country’s primary and secondary schools, where in the absence of proper educational policy, teachers follow the lead of fundamentalist preachers.
According to Mr. Kashif Nawab of SATH, there are at least three cases in Punjab province, of Christian students who were forced to leave the school on the basis of their religious affiliation.
In Hazro, Attock district, a ninth class student of Government girls school, Miss Muqaddas, was forced to leave school only on the basis of being a Christian. She was forced to leave the school but with the interference of deputy commissioner she was transferred to evening school as her presence in the morning shift will create bad atmosphere.
In Chichawatani, Punjab, at Government Primary School block 18, a Christian student was rusticated because of a small fight with another student, who was the son of a teacher. The teacher, Mr. Abdul Qayoom told him to leave school and join any Christian school because the school is for Muslims. He was rusticated from the school.
Third case belongs to Qasoor district where at Qasoor Girls High School two Christian sisters were not allowed by the school administration to take water from school water cooler and to use school toilets.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the authorities below, calling on them to protect the Christian students from the hate expressed by the teachers in government schools. Please urge them to initiate an independent inquiry into the killing of a Christian student by Muslim students in the presence of school staff and head-master. Sharoon’s class teacher must be prosecuted for spreading hate against religious minority groups. The government must provide security to Sharoon’s parents and siblings, who are receiving threats from influential Muslims in the area to withdraw the case and not talk to the media. The government must also pay compensation to them.
Please also remind the government authorities that demonizing and reducing minority groups to caricatures will serve no purpose. Instead, the state must work on sensitizing society to encourage a pluralistic and egalitarian atmosphere where the rights of minorities are equally protected. It is imperative for a strengthened Pakistan that all its citizens, regardless of caste, colour, ethnicity, political or religious association, be treated on equal footing by the state.
The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Freedom of religion and faith, calling for his intervention into this matter.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
PAKISTAN: Teacher’s hateful remarks led to killing of a Christian student
Name of victim: Master Sharoon Masih 17 son of Elyasib, resident of Goga 461 Burewal, district Vehari, Punjab
Names of alleged perpetrators:
Headmaster of M.C. Model Secondary school, Burewala, Vehari
Mr. Nazeer Mobil, class teacher of ninth grade, M.C. Model Secondary school, Burewala, Vehari
Ahmed Raza, student of grade 9, M.C. school and more students
Station House Officer (SHO) of Burewala police station, Vehari, Punjab.
Date of incident: August 30, 2017
Place of incident: M.C. Secondary School, Burewala, Vehari, Punjab
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the death of a 17-year-old Christian student, after the continuous hateful remarks of a teacher. The student was killed for drinking water from the school’s water cooler. Police still refuse to book the schoolteacher and head master for spreading religious hate among the students.
This is the second case of a Christian (student), beaten to death by Muslim students for touching the water cooler tap, after Asia Bibi, a Christian woman, was sentenced to death for taking water from the tap, During the past three months, three Christian students from various schools were forced to leave for being the Christians studying in Muslim schools.
According to the information received by me, a 17-year-old Christian student, Sharoon Masih, son of Elyasib Masih, got admission in MC Model school, Boraywala, Vehari district, Punjab, for the 9th grade in mid August. On the first day, August 27, he did not have the school uniform, but he was allowed to attend the class. As he entered the classroom, the Muslim class teacher, Mr. Nazir Mobel, introduced Sharoon as “Choorha”, a derogatory word used for sanitary workers or manual scavengers. The teacher sarcastically said, ‘look; now Choorhas will also study in school’.
After the class teacher’s remarks, nobody allowed Sharoon to sit with them. He was allowed to stand at the corner of the room.
The next day, his father did not allow him to go to school until he purchases his uniform. Masih also told his mother that all the students hate him and use derogatory words against his religion so he will not go school; some are pressurizing him to convert to Islam.
After his father purchased his uniform, Sharoon attended school, but on many occasions he was warned not to use water from the cooler.
I am shocked to know that on August 30, Masih took water from the school cooler during the break, which infuriated the Muslim students. They attacked him and beat him until he died.
His body was lying on the floor for some time, and no teacher or the head-master came out from their rooms to send him to hospital. Sharoon’s father took the body to the hospital, where doctors announced that he had died some 45 minutes before.
While the exact number of Sharoon’s assailants is not known, school authorities say only four persons were involved. One student was arrested, Ali Raza, who is a Martial Arts performer, and whose judo moves have proved to be fatal. Three other attackers, according to the police, are at large.
According to Sharoon’s family members, the police filed a First Information Report (FIR), on their own, without consulting them. The police did not register a case against the head-master of the school and the class teacher who did not send the injured boy to hospital. Christian organisations blame the teachers for the killing, as they spread hate against Christians.
I am appalled that according to Sharoon’s mother, the boys of his class used to threaten him with dire consequences if he dares sit with them. “Sharoon and I cried every night as he described the daily torture he was subjected to. He only told me about the abuse and violence he was facing. He did not want to upset his father because he had such a caring heart for others”.
One of Sharoon’s classmates reportedly told him, “You’re a Christian, don’t dare sit with us if you want to live.” The hatred against the only Christian boy in the school was such that as he was being mauled and beaten to death by a crowd of boys, the teachers and administration stood watching, complicit of the murder which unfolded under their watchful gaze. In fact, one of the suspended teachers had the moral audacity to claim that he was ‘reading the newspaper and didn’t notice the commotion’.
The world has hardly forgotten Mashal Khan who was lynched at the hands of his classmates and teacher when Sharoon Masih was murdered in the same manner.
I am very much disturbed that There are at least three cases in Punjab province, of Christian students who were forced to leave the school on the basis of their religious affiliation.
In Hazro, Attock district, a ninth class student of Government girls school, Miss Muqaddas, was forced to leave school only on the basis of being a Christian. She was forced to leave the school but with the interference of deputy commissioner she was transferred to evening school as her presence in the morning shift will create bad atmosphere.
In Chichawatani, Punjab, at Government Primary School block 18, a Christian student was rusticated because of a small fight with another student, who was the son of a teacher. The teacher, Mr. Abdul Qayoom told him to leave school and join any Christian school because the school is for Muslims. He was rusticated from the school.
Third case belongs to Qasoor district where at Qasoor Girls High School two Christian sisters were not allowed by the school administration to take water from school water cooler and to use school toilets. I am concerned about the religious pogrom and disrespect of others faiths have become a daily occurrence in the country of majority Muslims. The shrinking space for minority particularly the religious minority to co-exist spell chaos and anarchy in the society.
Extreme religiosity that elicits murder is overlooked by the state and judiciary in Pakistan as violence in the name of religion is a sensitive issue that may infuriate the religious clergy and the vote bank of the politicians. The murder of a member of a minority is trivialized and even normalized as just another murder. The local administration also often politicize the issue by allowing impunity to take precedence over minority rights.
I, therefore, call upon you to protect the Christian students from the hate expressed by the teachers in government schools. I urge you to initiate an independent inquiry into the killing of a Christian student by Muslim students in the presence of school staff and head-master. Sharoon’s class teacher, Nazeer Mobel, must be arrested and prosecuted for spreading hate against religious minority groups. The authorities must provide security to Sharoon’s parents and siblings, who are receiving threats from influential Muslims in the area to withdraw the case and not talk to the media. The government must also pay compensation to them.
I, hereby, suggest the authorities that demonizing and reducing minority groups to caricatures will serve no purpose. Instead, the state must work on sensitizing society to encourage a pluralistic and egalitarian atmosphere where the rights of minorities are equally protected. It is imperative for a strengthened Pakistan that all its citizens, regardless of caste, colour, ethnicity, political or religious association, be treated on equal footing by the state.
Yours Sincerely,
……………….
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi,
Prime Minister
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1596
Tel: +92 51 920 6111
E-mail: pspm@pmsectt.gov.pk, info@pmo.gov.pk
2. Mr. Ahsan Iqbal
Federal Minister for Interior
Ministry of Interior of Pakistan
R Block, Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9212026
Fax: +92 51 9202624
Email: interior.complaintcell@gmail.com,
ministry.interior@gmail.com
3. Ms. Rabiya Javeri Agha
Secretary, Ministry of Human Rights
State Life Building No. 5, Blue Area,
Jinnah Avenue, China Chowk, Islamabad
Fax: +92 51 9204108
Email: contact@molaw.gov.pk
4. Mr. Justice Saqib Nisar,
Chief Justice of Pakistan
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9213452
E-mail: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk
5.Mr. Rafiq Rajwana
Governor of Punjab
Governor House
Mall Road
Lahore, Punjab
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 99203044
Email: governor.sectt@punjab.gov.pk
6. Mr. Shahbaz Sharif
Chief Minister
Government of Punjab
Province’ Chief Minister
Secretariat’ 5-Club Road
GOR-I, Lahore, Punjab
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 99205065
Email: cmcomplaintcell@cmpunjab.gov.pk
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
