Pakistanis pray for tolerance

The service, attended by approximately 100 people, was sponsored by the Capital District Pakistani Christian Association. Younas Azad, a Pakistani Catholic and chaplain at St. Peter's Hospital in Albany and at Albany Medical Center, organized the event.

"Bishop Joseph was my professor in the seminary," he said. "He did a lot of good work. His death was very upsetting. The first night, I was not able to sleep. It is a very big loss."

Mr. Azad explained that in Pakistan, the blasphemy laws require that anyone who speaks against the Prophet Mohammed be put to death; anyone who speaks against the Islamic holy book, the Koran, can face life imprisonment.

Since Christians are a minority in Pakistan, they are often persecuted by loose interpretations of those laws, Mr. Azad said.

"Any Muslim person who has a problem with a Christian says it's blasphemy," he said. "The goal is to make it an Islamic state."

Mr. Azad, who came to the United States in 1987, said there are approximately 50 families in the Capital District Pakistani Christian Association.

(06-11-98) [[In-content Ad]]