Rev. Fr. George Ibrahim was martyred on July 4, 2003 at Our Lady of Fatima Parish House in Renala Khurd, district Okara of Punjab province by six gunmen in early morning. Fr. George Ibrahim born on 7-10-1965 at St. Fidelis church, Khushpure Chak, dis
The Christians in Pakistan and living aboard heard the sad news of terrorists attack on Father Ibrahim with grief and anger. He was dedicated priest and serving the poor Christian community in small town of Mitchell's Farms now known as Renala Khurd. The Our Lady of Fatima Parish has girl's schools and hostel, which was under administration of Fr. George Ibrahim for a decade. This academic institution in Renala Khurd is major source of education for poor Christian community school goers and large number of Christian girls from far flung areas of Okara District graduated from this school since 1947.
After the murder of Father George Ibrahim, for the first time in history of Pakistan, the catholic church of Pakistan on July 10, in a press conference addressed by Arch Bishop of Lahore, Bishop Saldana, announced to lodge protest on July 18 from Renala Khurd to campaign the arrests of the killers, when catholic church kept silent on brutal murder of Sister Susan at Bahawalpur in 1988, mysterious assassination of Fr. Dais at Catholic Colony Karachi in 1990 and killing of Bishop John Joseph on May 6, 1998. Now it seems as at last Catholic Church in Pakistan have decided to confront the attacks on clergy by the Muslim groups after the martyr of Fr. George Ibrahim.
The killing of any religious leader in any society is never appreciated but its strange that Government of Punjab and Government of Pakistan, failed to issue any press note and condolence message on killing of Fr. George Ibrahim, creating doubts in minds of general Christians in Pakistan that civil administration is not bit concerned about the safety of life and property of Christian and their religious leaders.
The government administration in Pakistan never adopted necessary security measures for the Christians in Pakistan and sad incidents of massacre occurred in village Shanti Nagar, Bahawalpur Church, Islamabad International Church, Muree Christian Schools, Taxila Mission Hospital, Justice and Peace Charity Karachi, Chalay Kay village Church, Bunnu Church bomb explode and killing of Father Ibrahim by attacks of fundamental Muslim religious groups.
The government of Pakistan claimed Christian minority to be sacred trust but never seriously used iron hand to prevent incidents of attacks on Christians life and property but willfully neglected to arrests the terrorists involved in the attacks on churches, schools and hospitals to ensure justice and perform its constitutional obligations. The worst part of these attacks appeared when administration with mollified intentions tried to implicate Christians in such attacks to give free hands to Muslim terrorists groups in Pakistan. Its on record that Karachi Police on investigations, killings of seven charity workers, detained a Christian injured employee of the Justice and Peace Charity for one month instead of arresting the terrorists involved in killing seven Christians. The Renala Khurd police also followed the same policy and lodged First Information Report FIR, on killing of Fr. George Ibrahim against the Christian groups in the locality instead of following the leads of threats to Fr. Ibrahim by the Muslim fundamental groups.
We wish to notify to make the record straight that Christian are peaceful citizen of Pakistan and are never connected to any Drug Mafia, Land Mafia and Terror Network. The scarifies of Christian in solidarity, prosperity and integrity of Pakistan are part of history of Pakistan. As a Christian, they have been respecting the other religious communities and religious leaders in Pakistan because love and respect for religious leaders in Christian teachings in basic life value among the followers of Christ.
Therefore Christians demand respect, dignity and security of their religious leaders from other religious communities in Pakistan. They also demand the immediate arrests of the killers of Fr. George Ibrahim and re open the murder cases of Bishop John Joseph, Fr. Dais and Sister Susan to bring the terrorists to courts of law for severe punishment.
Nazir S Bhatti