Francis said that when a Muslim candidate got elected to the US congress, he was given right to take the oath on the Quran, the Muslim holy book. If a Muslim winner in the United States is allowed to take oath on the Quran, then, he asked, why should I be stopped to contest a presidential election her in Pakistan?

Francis, who is the National Director of the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), said that his decision would test the announcements of President, General Pervez Musharraf, of ensuring constitutional rights to the religious minorities in the country.

Francis Terms CLAAS as a "Platform for Christian Lawyers"

Before 1992, he said that Christian lawyers did not have the courage to defend Christians accused of blasphemy. But then CLAAS provided the platform and the Christian lawyers in Pakistan have demonstrated that they were no less talented than the Muslim lawyers.

Referring to the case of Salamat Masih, a Christian accused of blasphemy (1993-1995), he said that after this, many Christians accused of blasphemy were defended by the Christians lawyers from the CLAAS platform.

He said that he regretted that the Police had so far failed to arrest all the accused named in the Police First Information Report (FIR) for attacks on a church in Sharkpur, some 35 Kms from the eastern city of Lahore. The veteran Human Rights campaigner alleged that local officials were “backing” the accused.

He went on to say, “In my opinion 2006 has been worst vis-à-vis human rights abuses. A church in Sharkpur was attacked twice during the year. Of the 35 accused, named in the Police First Information Report (FIR), only five have been arrested. After blasphemy cases, forced conversions emerged as a major threat to the religious minorities.”

Shedding light on the performance of CLAAS during the last year Francis said the body used all legal resources at its disposal. He said that CLAAS ensured that the accused, who were trying to get interim bail in the Sharkpur church attack case, were not able to.

“We have decided to file a writ petition calling for including the District Nazim in the investigation,” he said.

Francis pointed out that from October 1999 to 2006, some 85 blasphemy cases were registered in all. Of these cases, he said, 58 were against Muslims, 5 against Hindus and the rest were filed against Pakistani Christians.

He then said that ten people accused of blasphemy were killed while their cases were being tried in the courts. Of these ten, four were Christians and the rest were Muslims. The Human Rights activist said that although life for all people, irrespective of their religious allegiance, was not same after they had been accused of blasphemy, but the life becomes “way harder for Pakistani Christians accused of blasphemy.”

CLAAS Achievements in 2006

The National Director of CLAAS told ANS that CLAAS lawyers during 2006 had helped acquit some four Christians and five Muslims of blasphemy charges. He also named Ranjha Masih, who served some eight years and seven months imprisonment before the High Court acquitted him on November 10, 2006, as being among those who were extended legal aid and assistance by CLAAS.

“Fighting for the cause of the voiceless in Pakistan”

Responding a question, the CLAAS National Director said that they experience pressures of sorts, saying they would not make them stop what he called “fighting for the cause of the voiceless in Pakistan.”

Expressing his dissatisfaction about President Musharraf’s claim of reforming Madressahs (Islamic Religious Schools), Joseph alleged that the religious schools were promoting religious militancy. He said that Pakistan government needed to “do more on this count to rid the country of this menace.”

Francis then revealed that the US Senators and Congressmen committee of the US have invited him in the USA on January 29 where he said he would have the privilege of meeting the US President, George W. Bush, over breakfast.

He said earlier he had met President Bush two times in 2003 and 2005.

Asked what issues he was going to take up during his meetings in the US he said he would take up all issues confronting Pakistani religious minorities.

Answering a question he said he would believe President Musharraf’s claim of enlightened moderation as true if he was allowed to contest the presidential election in 2007. He alleged it was Musharraf who had let religio-political alliance, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) rise to the political scene for the first time in the history of Pakistan.

When ANS asked him how he felt on the inclusion of a religion column in new machine readable Pakistani passports, Francis said he did not mind the insertion of a religion column in the new passports. “I am proud of being Christians and hence I least mind my religious identity appearing on the passport,” he said.

He then called for the repeal of the “element of bias against religious minorities in Pakistan text books,” saying that the very presence of the pejorative material in the text books “was influencing the impressionable minds of students negatively.”

Terming the Pakistan English media as “balanced” he alleged that many newspaper columns written in Urdu, Pakistan’s national language, were “littered with hate-promoting material.”

Francis added, “Even the programs that are presented on electronic media do not show the true spirit of Christianity.”

When asked why the incidence of filing blasphemy cases was greater in the Pakistani province of Punjab, he said it was due to the fact that most of the militant religious organizations had their bases in the province. He said that although Musharraf had banned some militant organizations, “they have emerged under new names.”

Francis, in the interview, then called for increase in the minority seats in the Upper House of the Pakistan Parliament.

CLAAS Sets Up Law College in Pakistan

Francis told ANS that the Trinity Law College Pakistan, located in the eastern city of Lahore, was set up with financial assistance of HMK, a German donor organization in 2005. He said the inauguration ceremony of the college was held on November 19, 2005.

“It is part of community development,” he said. “No nation or country could develop without education. Our people find it hard to get jobs. They cannot even think of government jobs. They face discrimination so we went ahead with setting up the Trinity Law College.”

He said CLAAS lawyers were taking the classes voluntarily at the college adding that only one teacher was permanent. He said they were expecting foreign faculty to teach at the college who, he said, would come from Germany, Korea and the USA.

Francis said volunteer teachers from Jubilee Campaign, USA, a prayer partner of CLAAS, had delivered lectures to the college’s students.

Joseph Francis receiving award from Advocates Asia

He said only four students had been enrolled in the college. In July, 2007, he said that the students would go to South Korea for one month training. In October, he maintained the students of the college would go to Jordan to attend the Advocates Asia Conference.

It will be attended by law students from some 80 countries and they would be some 200-300 people, he added.

“Advocate International is a US based Human Rights Organizations which has Christian lawyers as its members from 190 countries. Advocates Asia and Advocates Europe are its chapters,” he elaborated.

He went on to say that Advocates International meets every four years whereas Advocates Asia and Europe meets every year. CLAAS is a member of Advocate International, USA and is partner of Advocate Asia, he said.

Citing the reason for the small number of students enrolled at the college, Francis said that the college had not yet been registered with the University of Punjab. He added that the registration was “underway” and expressed optimism that the college would be registered with the University of Punjab by May 2007.

In the Law College we are going to teach Pakistan law. Other than that we are going to offer Human Rights, Women Rights and Civil Society, he said while responding to a question.

Francis said that the college would be open to both Muslims and Christian students. Christian students, however< could be given scholarships to help them acquire law education, he stated.

“We have given full scholarship to our four students who are currently studying at the Law College with the help of our partners. Three Christian girls and a male student are studying at the college,” he informed.

He stressed the need for Christian women becoming lawyers. “Women feel relatively easy to discuss their problems with female lawyers,” he explained.

When educated women come in this field “the women in the remote areas would get encouragement,” he said.

CLAAS’s Future Goal

National Director of CLAAS, Joseph Francis, said he was mulling over setting up a degree college for Christian women in Yohannabad, Lahore.

He said the Christian women from the nearby areas including Nashtar colony, Glaxo Town, Hamza Town, Asif Town 1, Asif Town 2 would also benefit from the college Francis wants to set up.

CLAAS’s credibility and popularity is growing and more and more people as friends and supporters “are joining hands and this we see as a huge encouragement,” said Francis.