Date: October 30, 2001

Press Release

Massacre of Christians in Pakistan

The Islamic Supreme Council of Canada strongly condemns the massacre of Pakistani Christians in Bhawalpure, Pakistan. ISCC believes that this crime was carried out by those people who want to destroy the world peace and create terror against the people of all faiths. The entire Muslim nation condemns these attacks on minorities in Pakistan.

Moreover, Pakistani and Saudi Arabian top religious leaders has denounced the killings of Christians and Jews living in Muslim countries, saying they are forbidden under Islam. "He who kills those who signed the accords and those who received our guarantees of safety will not smell the fragrance of paradise," Sheik Abdulaziz al-Sheik said in an interview published Wednesday by the daily al-Riyadh newspaper.

The mufti was referring to peace agreements the Prophet Muhammad signed with Jews and Christians living in Muslim territories in the early days of the faith. Al-Sheik said such killings would have "grave consequences, including incitement, sedition and undermining security." The mufti said that such killings are "forbidden" under Islam.

On the other side, the way media has reported this incident in the newspapers is also very discouraging. We all know that for the last ten years Pakistan has been facing massacres of Muslims. There have been massacres of Muslim worshipers inside mosques. Over the last ten years, thousands of Muslims have been slaughtered while praying in the mosques in Pakistan. Why media did not ran those stories with headlines? Over the last ten years the violence in Pakistan's society has deepened but media paid very little attention towards it. The massacre of Christians in Pakistan should not be presented as a conflict between Christians and Muslims. In Pakistan, there are certain extremist groups who do not hesitate to kill Muslims in the name of Islam. This is a very unfortunate situation and people of all faiths need to work together to capture these criminals. We again urge the media to play a responsible role and do not divide Canadians by reporting irresponsibly.

Please call me for any questions.

Thanks

Best Regards

Syed Soharwardy

Founder & National President

Islamic Supreme Council of Canada (ISCC)

Muslims Against Terrorism (MAT)

Phone: (403)-605-7710