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Christian nursing students accused of blasphemy [updated]
by Scott Gilbreath ~ February 20th, 2009
A few days ago, it was reported that a prayer room used by Christian nursing students was ordered closed at The Children’s Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan. Now Christian nursing students are being targeted at another hospital in Lahore.
Two female Christian students of Fatima Memorial Hospital’s nursing school in the Pakistani city of Lahore, have been accused of desecrating verses of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, days after their Muslim roommates desecrated a picture of Jesus Christ which they had hung in a shared hostel room.
ANS has learnt that some days back the Muslim nursing students took a strong exception to the hanging of Jesus’ picture on the wall.
[…]
Muslim students desecrated the picture by tearing it up and hurling it down after the Christian students refused to remove it voluntarily.
[…]
Christian-Muslim tension among students of the nursing school escalated on Feb. 13 when the Muslim students, who still harbored acrimony against their Christian roommates, accused them of desecrating Quranic verses.
The exact circumstances of the alleged blasphemy are not stated.
A Christian spokesman suggests that the blasphemy accusation is part of an effort by “some elements … to discourage Christian women from entering medical sector”.
According to its home page, Fatima Memorial Hospital is “Pakistan’s first Muslim not for profit hospital”. Inasmuch as that is the only reference to religion I could find at the website, it’s not clear how Islam affects patient care or working conditions. The hospital says its mission is: “To provide quality healthcare without discrimination to patients from all walks of life”.
UPDATE: The two students and a Christian hostel warden have been thrown out of the school.
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February 20th, 2009 at 04:02 PM
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February 23rd, 2009 at 02:04 PM
[...] CHRISTIAN nursing students accused of blasphemy [updated] …. [...]