May 25, 2006
Gul Khan, a leading member of a
militant Islamic organization based
in Pakistan, is
funding its
activities through the sale of
Christian children into slavery. The
children,
aged between 6 and 12, are
abducted from their homes in remote
Christian villages in
the Punjab and
incarcerated in appalling
conditions, until being sold for
approximately
$1,700 each into the
sex trade or a life of domestic
servitude. While they are held they
are beaten savagely, only fed once a
day and ordered not to talk, play or
pray.
The trade was exposed by two
Christian missionaries (one
Pakistani, the other
American), who
had seen photographs of boys for
sale on the black market in Quetta,
the capital of Baluchistan province.
The missionaries constructed an
elaborate and
hazardous rescue plan,
with the Pakistani posing as a
Lahore businessman who wanted
to buy
boys to beg for him. Not only did
they manage to buy back twenty boys
and
return them to their homes, but
also they secretly filmed Khan
accepting money for
seventeen boys.
TERRORIST LINKS
Khan is a senior member of Jamaat-ud
Daawa (JUD), an organization linked
to Al-Qaeda.
The US State Department
has declared JUD to be a front for a terrorist group Lashkar-i-Toiba
which is banned in both Pakistan and
the UK. Yet JUD is popular in
Pakistan for
providing free medical
care and education for the poor.
After last year's earthquake in
Kashmir it was quick to give tents,
blankets and food. At its base near
Lahore JUD
claims to have created a
"pure Islamic environment" that is
superior to western
"depravity". The
base was funded by Osama bin Laden
in the late 1990s.
JUD and Al-Qaeda jointly attempted
to assassinate the Pakistani
President, Pervez
Musharraf, in
2003. JUD's leader, Hafez Muhamed
Sayeed, was accused of inciting
riots
in Pakistan earlier this year
in response to the publication of
the Danish cartoons of the
Islamic
prophet Muhammed.
Although the evidence against Khan
is overwhelming the police have
indicated that the
power of groups
such as JUD is too great for them to
tackle. So far no investigation
has
taken place.
THE CONTEXT OF SUCH HORRORS
"The revelation of this horrifying
trade in Christian boys to fund
Islamic terrorism is an
extreme
manifestation of the discrimination
and oppression of Christians in
Pakistan,"
said Dr Patrick Sookhdeo
the International Director of
Barnabas Fund. "The classical
teachings of Islam on the second
class status of non-Muslims (called
dhimmi) create an
attitude of
contempt towards Pakistan's
Christian minority which is seen in
a whole raft
of daily
discrimination, injustice and
humiliation. The situation is
exacerbated by issues
of caste and
poverty. It is in this context that
such horrors can take place. I am
encouraged that the police did make
some efforts in this case, but, as
so often
happens, they appear now to
be intimidated themselves by the
weight of the whole
Islamist
movement in Pakistan. I pray that
the exposure of this slave trade to
the
international community will
help bring an end to it."
Dr Sookhdeo is the author of a
historical study entitled "A People
Betrayed: The Impact
of Islamization
on the Christian Community in
Pakistan". For details of how to
purchase
this book, please contact
sales@barnabasbooks.org or
telephone +44 1672565037.
(From
within the UK telephone 01672
565037.)
PRAYER ITEMS
* Pray that the slavers will be
stopped and brought to justice and
in the words of one
of the
missionaries "Pray that a public
outcry will arise in Pakistan and
around the world
that will put an
end to their vile business."
* Pray for the twenty Christian boys
who have been reunited with their
families after
such severe suffering
and trauma. Pray for emotional and,
where necessary, physical
healing
for them.
* Pray for other Christian boys who
may have been sold already and for
whom freedom
might never again be a
reality. Pray that the Lord Jesus
will comfort them by His
presence
and that somehow justice would be
done and they would be given their
liberty.
* Pray for the Pakistani police and
judiciary and for President
Musharraf that they will
be able to
control and contain the Islamic
extremists and enforce full law and
order to
Pakistan.
---Barnabas Fund works to support
Christian communities around the
world where they
are facing poverty
and persecution.
Barnabas Fund, The Old Rectory,
River Street, PEWSEY, Wiltshire, SN9
5DB, UK. Tel:
+44(0)1672 564938,
Fax: +44(0)1672 565030, E-mail:
info@barnabasfund.org Web:
www.barnabasfund.org
FROM VOL: Here's the link to see the
hidden video that was taken when Gul
Khan was
selling the Pakistani
Children. You can also see photo's
of the children being returned to
their families.
www.helppakistanchildren.org
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