1. The Koran burning: At what
price to the Christian community?
Recently there has been much media attention
given to the burning of the Koran by a pastor in Florida,
one Terry Jones. The media showed the protests from
this act in Afghanistan and the subsequent riots that
lead to the unfortunate killing of innocent UN workers. In
Pakistan there were also demonstrations where burning
of the US flag as well as effigies of the American
President have taken place. I was compelled to write my
thoughts and opinion on this matter in order to give a
more objective view of this situation from the eyes of
not only myself, but on behalf of my friends that I have in
Pakistan that live the consequences of such actions
every day.
In the last 10 years, I have spent substantial time
in Pakistan working as a freelance Photo/journalist,
initially focused on the Afghan refugees, which
eventually led me to become involved in humanitarian
projects along with the help of some friends in Pakistan.
The other day in a phone conversation with one such
friend, who is of Pakistani decent and also a Christian
minister, I happen to bring up the subject of the Koran
burning in Florida to get his thoughts and opinion on this
issue. He expressed his great lament for this incident
and condemned the act as desecrating the Islamic faith
and volatile for the Christian minority in Pakistan.
"Unfortunately there usually is a back lash against the

2. Christian community in Pakistan when incidents like this
happen around the world." he confessed to me.
My friend has maintained a good relationship
with the Islamic community and works closely with
Muslim advocates in creating programs for food
distribution, medical attention, etc.. especially children,
both of Muslim and Christian faiths. Through his ministry
he recently has raised funds to help the children of the
flood devastation last summer, purchasing books,
school supplies as well as funding for tuition and school
uniforms for families of children who lost most every
worldly possession in
Their lives.
Getting back to our conversation he spoke
about the anger raised by the fundamentalists from this
incident and how it is putting himself and the Christian
community in greater danger because of the growing
radicalism. Being Christian in Pakistan is being
subjected to the wrath of what happens outside the
country, such as the Koran burning in Florida. Basically
the Pakistani Christian community is viewed as a
scapegoat. He stated that we as Christians are all very
worried when the anger level of the country is stirred up
by such acts. At certain times like these the
fundamentalist element gains what he called "Street
Power" to stir up anger and frustration against the
Christian world. "It only leads to burning of churches,
killing of innocent Pakistani Christians, and other such
acts of unspeakable violence as gang raping innocent
Christian girls." he continued.
In January of 2006 I was in Pakistan at the time

3. and witnessed for myself the kind of anger that can
spread through a society very quickly. There was a
demonstration held against a recent drone bombing raid
by the US military in the tribal areas of Pakistan, not far
from Peshawar where I was staying. The bombing had
killed a dozen or so innocent men, women and children
as was claimed by the Pakistani authorities. When my
friend told me of this planned demonstration I made
arrangements to go and witness this for myself. There
were thousands of mostly men filling the streets in the
old section of Peshawar known as "Chowk Yadgar"
chanting, raising their fists and carrying signs and
slogans for the death of America and burning of the
American flag. You could feel tension in the air and
seeing the anger level rise in people’s faces. I mention
this experience not to judge who was right or wrong
necessarily, but to describe the enormous anger and
sentiment against another society and ultimately a
religion that can be stirred up very quickly. Perhaps in
this case they had just cause because it has been
proven that innocents have been killed in the drone
bombings. These incidents only give the fundamentalist
element an open door to again stir up the people on the
street. But ultimately their agenda goes beyond
demonstrating against the killing of innocents.
During our conversation I had gotten the idea of
perhaps writing this essay about the ramifications of the
Koran burning, and mentioned it to my friend. He
thought it was a great idea and urged me to be his
spokesman for him. Tell our "Christian brothers in
America" as he called us that such acts of violence and

4. desecration of the Muslim faith is very wrong and only
succeeds in putting the Christian community in
unspeakable danger and erodes the relationship with
our Muslim brothers not to mention the strengthening of
the fundamentalist movement.
To get a different perspective on this issue I went
to visit a friend of mine that lives in the Hudson Valley
who is a Pakistani emigre and a practicing Muslim. He is
also a successful business owner and family man with
long ties to the area. Occasionally I stop by to see him
and we always get into conversation on the recent news
in Pakistan. I asked him if he would read my essay to get
his personal view. When he finished he acknowledge
and understood the consequences to the Christian
community in Pakistan from the Koran burning. He
condemned the violence that has been fanned by the
Islamic fundamentalists against the Christians
community. The general public in Pakistan is moderate
Muslims who do not want anything to do with this type
of behavior he told me. Moderate Muslims in Pakistan
who are the majority have also been killed for not
backing these fundamentalists. He spoke of a recent
example. Last November Salman Tasser, the governor
of Punjab and a moderate Muslim was gunned down by
his own body guard because of a case where a
Christian woman was accused and arrested for allegedly
insulting the Prophet Mohammed. There is a blasphemy
law in Pakistan and breaking this law means execution.
This governor was in the process of trying to modify this
harsh law and free this woman when he was
assassinated. I remember hearing about this
assassination, but was not aware of all the

5. circumstances behind it and how it connected to our
conversation until now.
The back lash to the Christian community is stirred
up by the Islamic fundamentalists who target the poor
and illiterate segment of the society that do not have a
full understanding of the issue, to demonstrate in the
streets and create the violence that we hear about. This
segment of society who become frenzied over the Koran
burning are generally the ones who due retribution to the
Christian community. Additionally my friend made
another interesting and revealing comment.
"We too as Muslims here in America feel the
consequence of certain acts in this country.
When there is an act of terrorism, immediately we are
under suspicion and scrutinized by the general public.
“My family and I have felt this tension, and to some
extent feel it on a daily basis." he stated. I am sure there
are many hard working moderate Muslims living in the
Hudson Valley who contribute to society that probably
have the same sentiments as my friend.
The other day I happened to be listening to a radio
talk show program when the host brought up the issue
of the Koran burning by Pastor Jones to his guest.
When the guest was asked for his opinion, he reminded
the host that under the first amendment right to freedom
of speech the Pastor can exercise his right and burn the
book without retribution by the law. The guest however
felt this man was deplorable and on the brink of insanity.
As author of this essay I believe the pastor feels he

6. is exercising his God given duty to condemn a Religion
that he in my opinion understands very little, but in
reality is hurting the people of the very faith which he
claims to represent. His actions only do harm to the
Christian community not only in Pakistan, but Islamic
countries around the world. Perhaps Pastor Jones,
instead of exercising your first amendment right to burn
the Koran, you can instead exercise your right to open
the book and read it!