(c)copyright
by Stephen Gill
BARKAT--A Victim of the Blasphemy Laws of
Pakistan
Dr. Stephen Gill
One of
the victims of the blasphemy laws is Barkat who was
arrested and imprisoned for 15 months on fabricated charges of insulting the
prophet Mohammed. Barket was acquitted with honour by
a Karachi court in January 1993. Under the controversial blasphemy laws in
force in Pakistan, his conviction would have meant a mandatory death sentence.
But despite full legal exoneration, Barkat continued
to receive death threats and harassment from Muslim extremists after
his release, causing him eventually to flee the country. Barket's neighbour
told Campus Direct that Due to
the curse of this law of blasphemy, this family has been suffering for nothing.
1
Barkat, originally from Panjab
in Pakistan, lived in Karachi where he sold bangles at the Defence Juma Bazzar. Bangle-selling is an
Indian and Pakistani profession that is unheard of in the West. It would need a
special treatment to illustrate this profession that is not necessary here.
Barkat had cordial relations with the Muslims
around him. He attracted customers because of his politeness, honesty and hard
work. The Muslim shopkeepers grew jealous of him because of his immediate
success.
The
leading rift started when some Muslim businessmen returned from their holy
pilgrimage to Mecca, called Hajj. Barkat was
the only Christian businessman in that area. His business became a point of disagreement
between him and the other Muslim traders.
Before
fabricating a case, some of them tried
to force Barkat to
leave that area and move to somewhere else. When Barkat
refused, they told him that they would teach him a lesson. On
Barkat said that was a lie. Yet, they insisted
that he had called her names. Frightened, Barkat did
not want to prolong the matter. He asked for forgiveness if he had said
anything unintentionally.
They did
not accept his apology, raising their voices even more angrily. He left those
boys. Within an hour, they circulated
the misinformation against Barkat and in this
way they were able to gather a
crowd. Growing afraid of a riot, the organizers of the bazaar informed the
police. Meanwhile, a crowd approached Barkat carrying
knives, sticks, stones and other weapons. As the crowd was about to attack him, the police came and
took him into their protection. The police, who had guns, told the
crowd that they would shoot if
anyone tried to move.
The
police ordered Barkat to go with them. When he asked the reason, the officers told
him that he would be informed at the police station. When he told the officers
that he was innocent, one officer ordered him to be quiet and just sit in their
car. As he was taken to the police
station, the mob shouted that it was their problem and they would settle with
him and therefore he should not be taken to the station.
At the
police station he was told he had
committed a crime under the blasphemy laws. They would put him behind the bars.
There he saw inspector Rahim Dutt
Khan, a guy with a round protruding stomach. After hearing the story from the
officers, he looked at Barkat with his eyes wide
open. Twisting his long black moustaches, he shouted like a hungry lion: if I had the power, I would have finished you
right now. While Barkat
was trying to recognize his worst fears in the inspector's venomous language
and tone, six cars full of people from the same bazaar arrived to tell the
police officers that if they released the victim, they would raze their
building to the ground. Barkat was locked up.
After
a while, an inspector took Barkat's address and wrote
the First Information Report, called the FIR in
His
brother, mother, nephew and some of his friends came to see him at nine or ten
at night. All were Christians. His
mother asked the police officers to let her look at her son to see his
condition. She was worried that her son might have been wounded. The police
officers did not allow her to see him.
His brother requested them at least to give them permission to give some
food to Barkat. A police officer said he did not have
proof that they were his relatives. After a little more talk, an officer
asked the visitors to eat the food first to prove there
was no poison. They were finally allowed to see Barkat
on the second floor where he was under lock and key. His mother wept sitting on
the floor.
In the
morning, the police took Barkat to court. They were
ordered by the court to transfer him to a jail on the following day. Back at the police station, he was confined
to a cell that was set up for torture. The cell
was secluded away from the main police station. Four policemen started
beating him. The food that was given to
him late night, while he was moaning with mental and physical pain, was
horrible. There were no bed and bed
sheet and the floor was unpaved.
Life
in jail where he was moved the next day was slightly better, but the ghosts of
fear were always there to torment him. When
the case started, the judge began receiving threats that Barkat should not be acquitted because he had dishonoured
the prophet. The case was transferred
to a woman judge. She took the
case calmly. On the 18th of January
1993, the lawyers argued the case. Barkat's lawyer,
Mohammed Slough -Ud-Din Gandapuri,
argued that the shopkeeper next to Mr. Barkat was
Mohammed Tariq who was asked if he heard Barkat saying anything against the mother of the Prophet.
He testified that he never heard this. The main witness against Mr. Barkat was Mohammed Arif, the
accuser. His shop was at a distance of ten to fifteen feet. When the arguments
of the lawyers ended, the judge said that
the shop of Mr. Barkat and the
shop of the main witness, the accuser, were at some distance. Next door
shopkeeper did not hear those words of dishonour. How a shopkeeper of so far
distance could hear those words against the mother of the prophet? Barkat was present
during that discussion among the lawyers.
The
judge whose name
was Khalida Yassen
told the accuser that she was a woman. If she had heard those words, she would
have killed Barkat right at that moment although
being a woman she was supposed to be kind and nonviolent.
If Barkat had said something against the mother of
the prophet, where the sentiments of those accusers were. Why those accusers
could not kill him right at that time
when he uttered those filthy
words. She said that she would give her final judgment on the 24th
of January at 12 in the afternoon.
Instead,
Barkat was called by the court at eight o'clock next
morning. The judge said, You are free
now. Barkat
did not trust his ears because it happened suddenly and unexpectedly. He
remained standing. She repeated, Go, go, I have set you free.
Barkat thanked the judge and came out where his
spouse, children, brother and mother were waiting for him. He embraced them one by one. In about seven minutes, the
typist of the judge rushed out to tell Barkat that he
would be sent to the jail again and at once because shortly the extremists were
expected to gather around that area to kill him. She also told Barkat that for his protection, he would be the last one to be freed secretly
from the jail.
Barkat was released from the Karachi Central
Jail around ten hours after the court decision was announced by Judge Khalida Yassen. When he was out
of jail at about nine o'clock at night, he sighted a car, ready to pick him up.
He was taken to a place where his family had arranged a party to celebrate his
freedom. He was imprisoned for fifteen months without bail. Had he been
convicted, he would have been condemned to a mandatory execution under the
Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code. The defense
concluded that the case was registered due to the business rivalry. The judge
noted that the persecution had badly failed to produce even a single witness to prove the alleged
blasphemy2
Despite
his complete legal exoneration, militants kept coming to his house to find
him. They used to tell the members of
his family that they wanted to congratulate Barkat on
his release from jail. They used to be
armed. Barkat kept receiving death threats from Muslim
zealots through his mail also.
Some
Christian ministers arranged a student's visa for him to study abroad. A student visa was an easy and a fast way to
send him out of the country. In Sri Lanka, he met the UNHCR commissioner Mr. Godfry who arranged his refugee status in Canada. After two
years and two months, on the 1st of December 1996, with the help of some Sri
Lankan priests and a Canadian church, his asylum was arranged in Canada.
Priests and several others from Sri Lanka and Canada helped him for which he is
obliged to them.
I
knew the story of Barkat
from the media. I contacted him through someone within weeks of his arrival in
At
first sight, Barkat appeared boyish. He was slim and of medium height. Within a
few minutes of our conversation I began to realize that Barkat
was articulate, honest and intelligent. We spoke in Panjabi.
When I introduced him to a non-Pakistani at my house, he shifted easily to
English. I wondered at his fluency. Later I discovered that he did not know
even a word of English two years before
when he left
Barkat shared several incidents of his life with
me that afternoon. It was an experience to know him and to know how the
blasphemy laws were shredding minorities to pieces.
While
in jail, he constantly received letters from the members of the international
human rights commission from all over the world. Those letters provided him
with a ray of hope when there seemed to be none. He realized that those letters
from abroad made a difference. The authorities were comparatively lenient
because of the awareness of his case abroad.
One
day, one prison inspector told others that Barkat was
a Christian and because he had said something against the prophet he should be given all the possible dirty
work to do. Barkat retorted that they could do
whatever they wanted with him-- they
could torture him to any extent-- but he would not do the filthy work. A jailer
interrupted to tell them not to be hard on Barkat,
because he was a spy of some foreign nations. His reports against the jail
authorities would be in the news and that would lead them into trouble.
He
told me about his miraculous escape from an army deserter. This officer, Mohammed Farook,
was jailed because of his crime for deserting the army. One day, this army fugitive asked Barkat the reason for his being in jail. Barkat told him briefly that he was in a business and ended
up in jail because of the business jealousy.
That afternoon while enjoying a cup of tea at my house, Barkat told me that, the army deserter, Mohammed Farook, was given a light work at the main entrance of the
jail. That was the day of Barkat's hearing in court.
When Barkat returned in the evening, he saw Mohammed Farook collecting the warrants or letters from prisoners
who had also court hearing. After reading the court papers, he was informing
the prisoners of their dates for the next hearing and the nature of their
crimes. Mohammed Farook saw the
papers of Barkat and thought for a while. He came back to the barracks after a while,
and called Barkat to ask his crime. The military
deserter appeared to be shaken.
Barkat
stated he had already told him that due
to business jealousy, a crime was fabricated against him. The army soldier was
not satisfied with that explanation. He
was furious. He told Barkat that he did not tell the
truth but he had found out that truth when Barkat
handed him the court papers. He asked another officer what 295 code meant.
Since that time Mohammed Farook said that his heart
was burning. The army deserter suggested that there was one solution. Barkat should go with him
to Darul Quran
Mosque that was within the prison. In that mosque Barkat
should accept Islam. That was the only way to save himself from his fury.
Barkat told
him that he was proud of being a Christian. The man became more furious and
told Barkat that he would see him in the morning to set
him right.
That night was not easy for Barkat. He was nervous, because that tall and muscular army
deserter was an extremist. Barkat knew
that extremists believed it
was a good deed in the eyes of God
either to convert a non-Muslim by any means or to kill. Barkat
had heard ugly episodes of torture of one prisoner by others within the walls
of the jail. In his case, no other
prisoner or authority was going to save him from the wrath of a fanatic. There
were Muslims around him and he was accused of something that was enough to land
him in the valley of death in or outside the jail.
That night turned out however
meaningful. When the thoughts of the
impending danger were crucifying him, about one o' clock in the morning, he
started reading his Bible in Urdu. While praying, he dozed. He dreamt that he
would be saved. After that he enjoyed a peaceful sleep.
When he got up in the morning, he learnt
that there was an order from the jail superintendent for all the military criminals
to be transferred immediately to Sukher Jail.
Mohammed Farook was on that list. He told Barkat before leaving, _You are lucky. I
had terrible plans for you.
Any other incident from your life in
jail? I asked looking into his eyes.
Several.
The whole jail unrolls before my eyes even now. The jail was divided into
several barracks. Each barracks, meant for 175 prisoners, was packed with
around 275.
An
employee of the barracks, short and skinny, would come at six in the morning
carrying a stick which you see with the animal trainers in the circus. The
employee used to hit the ground three times with his stick to make a noise.
With that noise all the inmates were
supposed to be up. If one could not, he was beaten with that stick.
For
the breakfast, we were given a glass of tea and a loaf of Indian bread. Then we
were put to work the whole day. We stopped for our lunch at noon for two
loaves. After that again work.
In the
hall where we slept, the inmates were not allowed even to sit. We were not
given pillows and sheets. No one was allowed
to talk to anyone. Christian prisoners were given dirty work to do, like
cleaning toilets and other sanitary duties. Their glasses, cups and plates were
kept separate from the utensils of the others. The Muslim inmates were openly told not to eat with
Christians.
Were
you optimistic that you would be acquitted?
I asked
This
reminds me of an incident. One day when my parents and wife came to visit me,
they began crying. It was not a normal sight. They used to chat and encourage
me, but that visit was different. There
were only tears and tears. They were sobbing, crying without saying
anything. While leaving, they told me about the new law. According to this law there was only the death sentence for the
blasphemy victims.
How
did you take that news?
Mentally, I was
not very upset as my parents were.
It is because of the letters I used to
receive from all over the world. People of those letters said that they
were praying for me. Those letters were a great consolation for me. Before
going to my bed that night, I opened my Bible and read the epistle of the
Romans from chapter ten which gave me consolation.
Barkat feels
that it is beyond his understanding how and why
God has saved him from the clutches of fanatics and
smoothed his ways to come to Canada. He is convinced that there must be some purpose
behind it. While talking to me, Barkat often quoted Mark 13 :13 where it is written: And ye
shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the
end, the same shall be saved.
I
interrupted, _What
a...?
Barkat continued, People in Pakistan are being convicted of the
blasphemy for words never uttered and for the witnesses never given. He added,
You know Salamet Masih's
case. He was convicted of writing
something against the prophet on the walls of a mosque. No one ever saw those
words and no one ever repeated those words in court. Moreover, Salamat
Masih was twelve years old and illiterate. Yet, he
was condemned to death. There are several more Christians who were in worst situations than Salamat Masih was. No one will ever come to know them
because they were never able to reach a human rights activist or a church or
even police. Barkat
became silent.
How
did you find a lawyer ? I was eager to
know.
According
to the blasphemy laws, a lawyer has to be a Muslim and the judge should also be
a Muslim. My friends and relatives contacted different lawyers. Most of them refused
to take my case because of its nature. One Muslim lawyer said that the victim
spoke against the prophet and therefore if I had the power I will shoot him.
Several lawyers were afraid of extremists and therefore did not want to take a
chance. If there was any, the fee was extremely so high that we were not able
to pay. One lawyer took his fee and disappeared.
In
blasphemy cases, there is no bail now. The victim is either set free or
condemned to death. Salamat Masih
and the other two with him were set
free on bail by the higher court; one of them was killed soon after the
release. One Christian lawyer, Cornelius, came forward to help us in some way.
He said that he would meet the judge and try to set me free on bail. Cornelius
tried, but the judge told him that there is no bail for this case. Cornelius
was helpful and his fee was not high.
Slough Din Gandapuri
was the last one to be asked through a human rights association, called the
institute of Aman and Inasaf,
which in English means peace and justice. Gandapuri
is the one who was helpful till the last.
Why did you not contact the lawyer of Salamat Masih. Her name is Asma Jangir?
She is from Lahore which is very far from
Karachi. Moreover, she is very busy. She was also on our list to approach
eventually. Another problem was with my witnesses. I hope you know that in
Pakistan one adult's witness is half witness if that adult is a non-Muslim.
All
the four Muslim witnesses told the judge that they could be jailed and
handcuffed, but they would not say a
word against Barkat. They said they knew Barkat and his family personally. They never heard him saying anything against the
Prophet. Mr. Barkat is an honourable person.
When
the witnesses spoke in Barkat's favour, the Judge acquitted him.
From
the day of his acquittal, the family of Barkat
started receiving threats saying their
child would not be saved. The fanatics said
they did not care for the judgment. He spoke against the Prophet and
therefore he had to be killed.
What
happened after your acquittal, I interrupted finding him lost in thought.
He
heaved a deep sigh and continued:
I
still feel those days. It is not that
easy to open that chapter from the book of my life. I was released from prison
on the 24th of January 1993. The following day, four bearded men dressed in
Pakistani dress of shalwar and kameez
knocked at the door at about ten in the
morning. My mother opened the door. They asked about me. My mother told them
that Barkat lived there but was not at home. They
left saying they would return in the afternoon.
They
came again in the evening. My mother told them that Barkat
was not at home. It is true that for safety, I was away most of the time. Three
days after that they came again. This
time, there were six. For about two weeks they continued coming every
second or third day. When they got news
that I had gone to the Panjab, they were really mad.
They shouted that they would find me. The court has released him, but
he cannot hide
from them because he has dishonoured our Prophet and his mother. He will
pay for that.
Lost
in thought, Barkat began to look outside into the
snow flurries. All of a sudden, as if awakened from a dream, he spoke:
Almost a month after my release, I
started getting anonymous letters that I would be killed at any time because
according to them I had committed an
unpardonable crime. My family and I used to take refuge in the homes of
different relatives and friends. My priest friend, Fr. Arnold Heredia, who had stood beside me during my detention and
helped me with a lawyer through the human rights organization he is associated
with, also told me that I could stay with him. Since moving to his residence
was difficult, I did not stay with him. Besides, I feared that somebody might
see me there and this could harm Fr.
Arnold and his institution.
On
April 9, 1993, on Good Friday, I was taking my son to a doctor in my locality.
My son had been running a high temperature for several days. Making a turn into
a small street towards the doctor's clinic, Abdul Hafeez, who is a Sipah Sahaba (an Islamic militant group) activist and a friend of
my complainant, Mohammed Arif, recognized me. He drew the attention of the two men who were
accompanying him. Pointing towards me, he told them `This is Barkat. Recognize
him. I returned home immediately
without taking my son to the
doctor.
A
friend of mine by the name Nadeem who is Christian
told me about Arif, the Muslim who had fabricated the
whole lie against me. Nadeem told me after my release
from jail that Arif had a plan to move to Panjab with his family. If I was released, Arif would come back to Karachi from Panjab
to kill my family and me. This way nobody would suspect that Arif was the killer, because everybody knew that Arif was in Panjab and not in
Karachi where I lived.
Mohammed
Arif did shift to Panjab in
April. Towards the end of September, I heard, he had returned to Karachi
leaving his family behind. He started living in my locality. Every now and then
I was told stories about threats on my life. For the safety of my family and
myself, I had to withdraw my children from school. I continued to live amidst
constant fear. The incidents that I have mentioned are only a few among the
many I have encountered. I lived with fear everyday thinking that could be the
last day of my life. The plan of Arif that I came to
know from my Christian friend Nadeem was the one that
had upset me the most. Having the support of the fundamentalist Sipaha Sahaba, Arif could eliminate me at any moment. Already there had
been incidents when the accused Christians were murdered. The blasphemy accusations cannot
be revoked. Everyone is aware that the religious head of Iran has
vowed that the death sentence of Salman Rushdi cannot be revoked. It had become impossible for me
to earn a living.
In 1994, May 18, five fundamentalists,
fully armed, came to my house in Karachi.
Fortunately I was not at home. They spoke to my father rudely and threatened
that somehow or other they would kill me.
To give vent to their frustration, they fired in the air.I
was terribly upset. I used to leave my house only in the dark if he had to. My activities were restricted. I changed places of my residence often and looked at every visitor
as a possible killer. Freedom was not freedom in the real sense. In a way, it
was worse than jail. During this time a Christian group of human rights
arranged a visa for me to go abroad.
He
said,
In
1995, August, I went to Rawalpinidi with some
Christians. They protected me. After staying there for a few weeks, I returned
to Karachi. I met Fr. Arnold Heredia who told me to
get my travel documents ready to move out of Pakistan. Fr. Arnold protected me after the assassination
of Manzoor Masih and
mentioned that my life was also in danger and that he was trying to obtain an
emergency visa that would enable me to leave Pakistan. I was very frightened
and mentally disturbed, thinking that I would die soon. There were moments when
I used to get tired of that sort of
life. I did not know what to do.These were the thoughts of my children and the
prayers of my well wishers from all over the world which gave me hope.
Fr.
Arnold gave me my passport with an emergency visa, a ticket, about two hundred
dollars and sent me abroad with some businessmen and instructed them to help me
with the immigration procedures.
I
don't think those were the
shopkeepers who were looking for you to
kill. Maybe those shopkeepers had hired
hooligans to kill you. It appears unlikely that they will come with guns, I asked.
I do
not know all this. I am telling the facts,
Barkat said.
Did
you approach the police for protection?
That
was to invite death. The police will not listen to Christians. They are
Muslims. It was dangerous to tell the police about my whereabouts. Police could
have killed me under the pretext of my protection. For safety, we did not tell the police.
When I
asked about the politicians, he said _Benazir was good for Christians. She wanted to
get rid of the blasphemy laws, but fundamentalists turned against her. Pakistan
has earned a bad name all over the
world for the sake of a few fundamentalists. Otherwise,
the country is good.
What were those trumped up words that
the witness said you had used against the mother of the prophet?
The
witnesses did not tell the words. The witness was told by his lawyer that he
should not say anything.
_Why ?_
My
lawyer said that when the witness says anything against the prophet or his
family, I would get him arrested saying that he used those words against the
prophet in court. The whole court would be the witness.
Sitting
in the living room of my house, Barkat's told me that
his local priest in Canada has advised him not to be associated with the media
and he should forget his past to lead a peaceful life. That is what I told him.
And that is what he has planned. He told me later that he does not feel free in
a real sense. He does not tell his address in Pakistan particularly to Muslims.
He has hidden his real name. He was
advised to take extra precautions.
Barkat has
developed an extraordinary love for Canada because the country has given him
and his family a new life. He has adjusted here within a short time. I told him
that nobody dies of hunger in Canada.
There could be several terrorists who have sought refuge here. Somehow,
they forget their past and start building their future for themselves as well
as for their children. The best thing is not to stand in their way. That
evening I found out that Barkat was also a good cook.
In the evening, he offered to make chapaties and also
chicken curry. Barkat has learnt
French and has improved his
English considerably. His children have become perfectly trilingual in a short
time. His local priest often visits them and helps the children with their school work. He plays a Pakistani
instrument in the choir of his church. He is in touch with the local community
of India and Pakistan as well.
Barkat has not
severed his ties with the country of his birth, where his friends
and relatives are still living. Whenever, he hears another victim of the
blasphemy laws, he feels sorry. He says he was one of the lucky ones who was
supported by the human rights activists and the church. There are several
victims who have never come to light because they were far from the main
cities. Moreover because they were killed even before authorities started
intervening. He heard about the arrest
of Fr. Arnold Heredia, a person who had helped Barkat to find a lawyer and in so many other ways. Fr. Heredia was one of the seventeen persons who were arrested
for expressing their views against the blasphemy laws in a public rally.
Barkat told me
how sorry he was to know that two Christian boys were arrested in Jacobabad for
distributing Christian literature among Christians and were beaten by the
police for that reason. The mob was after the pastor of that region. Why do
they crush the human rights of others, he often wonders? He told me that the
meaning of his name Barkat is blessing in the Urdu
language. He is really blessed because he is alive in a land of peace.
A considerable number of Christians in
Pakistan did not have the courage of Barkat. They
embraced Islam under threat to save their lives. Barkat's
younger brother, Jacob, was one of them. Jacob knew that his brother could be
condemned to death or killed by one of the prisoners, as it had happened to
several Christians before. Even his acquittal by a court would not mean
anything. Jacob became Muslim to save his life.
When Barkat was arrested on the blasphemy
charges, his brother started pretending to have an interest in the Muslim
religion to please the majority and avoid their wrath on him and his family.
Some Muslims began to take him to a mosque. When Barkat
was out of the country, his brother
stopped going to the mosque. Instead, he continued going to his church.
Fundamentalists blamed him for dishonouring the prophet. They went after his
life for going back to Christianity and also because he was from the family of Barkat.
They tried to find him to kill. They were
more furious because of the involvement of his elder brother Barkat with the blasphemy laws and his disappearance from
Pakistan. Jacob also had to seek refuge abroad because apostasy is punishable
with death in Islam. The legal system of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is
clearly built on the Koranic laws.
Considering the blood ties of Jacob with Barkat; considering the case of his apostasy; considering
deaths of several Christians in the
past, including the case of Tahir Iqbal
who was poisoned because he became a Christian; and considering the blasphemy
laws of the country that are based on the Koran, one can conclude that
the life of Jacob was in a real danger in Pakistan, where ninety-six percent of
the population are Muslim, where the trials are carried out by only Muslim
judges, and where the police are Muslim. Jacob was likely to be killed or jailed to
be tortured under false charges.
Some Christians provided protection to
Jacob and his family. Meanwhile, he managed to flee the country with his
family. Life was not that easy abroad. He went from one country to another
because no country allowed him and his family to stay for more than a few months on visitor's visa. Barkat
helped them in every possible way. Barkat's spouse, Margrette and
their children, joined him in Canada within a year. Back in Pakistan, his wife
had supported the family by sewing clothes for women. Barkat's
immediate family was a great support in
those difficult days.
Within a short time of Barkat's
arrival in Canada, his father died in Karachi. Barkat
could not go to attend his funeral. After a few months, his mother also died--
the mother he loved so dearly. He could not go to her funeral either, because
his presence in Pakistan was beset with dangers. Barkat
is convinced that his persecution and long absence from his parents were
responsible for their early death. He feels that he was not able to present at
the time of their burial. They must have died broken hearted.
This is a profile of a victim of the
blasphemy laws which are vague, discriminatory, and which have been used
successfully against minorities for business rivalries and to settle personal
scores. Barkat was in jail for fifteen months because
there is no bail for such victims. The court was aware of the consequence of
releasing him openly. After the legal freedom, Barkat
was not free in the real sense. He had
to flee secretly from Pakistan. He is worried now about his relatives back home
because of fanatics who may take revenge on anyone.
Barkat will
never be able to visit the country where he was born, where his parents were born, where he
studied, passed his life, was married, and where his children were born. On the
whole, Pakistan is not that bad. He loves that country in spite of the fact he
will never be able to breathe the air of that land again. God has blessed Pakistan
in various ways, he says.
========================================
Works Cited
1Compass
Direct, October 17,
1996, page 8:
2New
Network International. January 29, 1993
*Jafakash, Fr. Arnold Heredia,
August 1998, pages 37-38,
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