Pakistani, Afghani communities urge for first Muslim cemetery in Athens
May 07, 2022
Athens [Greece], May 7 : Pakistani and Afghani communities residing in Athens have urged for the building of a Muslim cemetery in Athens, amidst cases of violence and abuse against Christians residing in Pakistan.
The demand was made at a press conference that was attended by MPs from SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, accompanied by members of the Movement United Against Racism & the Fascist Threat (KEERFA), reported the Greek City Times.
The request had been highlighted by a refugee Fagiri family who lost their 5-year-old child in a road accident in Malakasa, north of Athens, in January 2021. He was buried in the cemetery in the town of Schistos, southwest of Athens.
The parents of the deceased child had demanded justice over their child's death, insisting on reburying their child at the Muslim cemetery in Thrace. They further asked for the creation of a Muslim cemetery in Attica as well, reported the Greek City Times.
Further, the lawyer of the Fagiri family, Nikos Papadatos, who also attended the press conference noted that the Church of Greece was in full support to establish a Muslim cemetery, "but the request is mired down in bureaucracy". He urged a political decision that would make the essential procedures easier to understand.
Meanwhile, 14 armed men had attacked a Christian school in Pakistan's Sheikhupura city in the Punjab province. The insurgents demanded extortion money from the school's principal and also made death threats to the school authorities if they failed to pay them, reported the Greek City Times.
"Many of our religious and political leaders, while visiting other countries, say that minorities and Christians are safe in Pakistan. After what happened to us today, I will never say that. Our security guard can't even walk now. Our community is threatened to keep silent," stated the school principal.
The Christian community comprising 1.6 per cent of Pakistan's population suffers both from religious insensitivity and racism, reported the Greek City Times. They continue to suffer under targeted violence accompanied by other abuses which include land seizures in rural areas, abductions, and coerced conversions.
