FAISALABAD, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Nouman Shahu, one of the two Christian men who were arrested by Pakistani police for “perpetrating violence” in Gojra has been granted bail by an anti-terrorist court in Faisalabad on Tuesday, October 20, ANS has learned.

Gojra is a small town in Pakistani province of Punjab, which saw the torching of Christians' houses and the deaths of seven Christians after rumors spread that Christians had committed blasphemy.

Some 64 Christian families in Gojra were rendered homeless as a result of the August violence.

Joseph Francis, National Director of the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), told ANS that they had submitted surety bonds worth 50,000 Pakistani rupees (601.355 USD) for release of Nouman Shahu.

Francis said CLAAS lawyer, Akbar Munawar Durani, withdrew a bail petition for Nouman’s brother Naveed who is facing a murder charge.

“We will move the bail petition for Naveed after a week or so,” said Francis.

ANS has discovered that Raja Abdul Rasheed, the district and sessions judge also heard bail petitions of three Muslims named in the police First Information report on Tuesday. The Judge declined bail for the Muslim men.

The judge however granted bail to Alvi, a Muslim man who was not named in the FIR after Fr. Nisar, a Catholic priest told the judge that the man was innocent, Francis confided to ANS.

Francis told ANS that Nouman’s family members were very excited to hear the news of his release. It (the news) also encouraged Christians of Gojra, many of whom went to the freed man’s house to congratulate the family for his release, said Francis.

Francis claimed he told the judge that it was ridiculous that Christians were being eyed with suspicion when they are the ones who lost lives and suffered damage to their properties; he said alluding to July 31 and August 1 incidents of violence in which houses of Christians were burned by extremists under pretext of blasphemy.

CLAAS, he said, had challenged filing of a case against 129 Christians after Gojra violence in High Court. The case would soon be heard by the Lahore High Court, he said.

According to Francis the complainant in the case claims that he could identify 29 Christians named in the FIR who were allegedly firing from a distance of 150 yards. He pointed out that a supplementary version of the FIR was lodged against Christians eight days after the original FIR was lodged. He went on to say that the delay was a clear indication of evil intention by the complainant and a planned conspiracy against Christians. Francis termed the case against Christians as “fabricated and concocted.”

Regarding 22 year old Robert nicknamed as Fanish or Falish, who died in police custody last month, he said he would get a copy of his post-mortem from medical superintendent Civil Hospital Sialkot “as I am eligible to get one after the court’s order.” He said he would also meet the investigation officer during Sialkot visit.

Asked if the ongoing military operation in Pakistan’s tribal area of South Waziristan and the increase in terrorist activities across the country in recent days would affect Pakistani Christians, Francis said that anyone could attack Christians in Gojra or elsewhere in Pakistan under current circumstances.

Educational institutions across the country have been closed after terrorists on Tuesday struck at the International Islamic University in Islamabad, killing at least four people and wounding at least eighteen.

Asked if the missionary institutions have also been closed after escalation in terrorism, he said they had been especially directed to do so since most of the affluent Muslims’ children including those of judges and bureaucrats study in Christian missionary institutions so they could be targeted by extremists.

Dan Wooding, 68, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 46 years. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC., and now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California and which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on UCB UK and Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Wooding is the author of some 43 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, go to . E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, also recently released “God’s Ambassadors in Japan” which is available at http://www.amazon.com/