MANDI BHAWALDIN, Pakistan — Muslims led by a hard-line cleric resumed building on a Christian cemetery Aug. 27 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 with a basement and what appear to be shops completed, Zia said.
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 but Aug. 27 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 reconstruction they would also carry out a protest rally against Christians, and Muslim clerics said Christians would be responsible for the consequences,” Gill said.
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