'Islamization' of Pakistan Takes Toll on Christians

From crosswalk.com:

In Pakistan, months of violence at the hands of Taliban militants has left Christians on edge, humanitarian aid workers fearing for their safety and the Pashtun culture heavily damaged.

Observers say the stage was set for the violence when Pakistan's former dictator Zia ul-Haq, a militant Sunni, forced the "Islamization" of the country, aggressively pushing an intolerant form of Islam in the 1980s.

Years later, the country's citizens are witnessing a violent uptick in the effort as minorities are targeted as infidels and imams call for their killings.

Pakistani police arrested 13 suspected militants in two raids that they said foiled several terrorist attacks Aug. 24, including a plan to attack several places of worship in Punjab: Shiite mosques, churches belonging to Christians and a place of worship for a sect the government considers not Muslim, The New York Times reported.

The terrorists, with links to al-Qaida and the Taliban, were found with suicide vests and explosives along with heroin, which has been used to finance their terrorist activities. Also Monday, gunmen killed an Afghan television reporter and severely wounded another in northwestern Pakistan.

Recently in Gojra's Christian Colony, in rural Punjab, a Muslim mob heard a rumor that a Christian had desecrated a copy of the Koran, and more than 50 houses and a church were set on fire, leaving at least 14 Christians dead. The rumor later was found to be false....

Read it all here.