Rishma Masih: further reports

La Croix is carrying coverage of the aftermath of the arrest of Rishma in a suburb of Islamabad - under the worrying title: « Les chrétiens doivent s’en aller, sinon ça va dégénérer » ["The Christians must leave, otherwise it will get worse"].

La Croix's report gives a claimed account of the arrest of Rimsha, and describes the departure of many Christian families from the Mehrabad quarter of Islamabad since the incident.

Perhaps most worrying is the following paragraph of the report:

A quelques pas de lui, se tient debout Hafiz Mohamed Zubair, l’un des deux mollahs de la mosquée. Lui ne perd pas son sang-froid mais explique avec calme : « Oui, c’est vrai, aujourd’hui les chrétiens doivent partir. Nous ne pouvons plus cohabiter, ce ne sont plus nos frères. Ce n’est plus possible de vivre ensemble. » [Nearby we met Hafiz Mohamed Zubair, one of the two mullahs at the mosque. He did not lose his composure but explained calmly: "Yes, it is true, today the Christians must go. We can no longer co-exist, they are no longer our brothers. It is no longer possible to live together".]

There is further reporting here: Imam accuses Christian girl of 'conspiracy' (this is an agency report from Agence France Press). Sources such as the British Pakistani Christian Association view these claims as completely false.