FIRES DESTROY FACTORIES IN PAKISTAN:

Sarah,

Factories in developing countries have helped lift many out of poverty.  They also cause a tremendous amount of problems.  One of these problems is unsafe working conditions. 

This week in Pakistan, two fires, one in a garment factory and one in a shoe factory, killed 314 people.

The buildings lacked fire exits and other safety precautions.  This failure is part of a larger trend in Pakistan and other developing countries in which factory owners routinely bribe local officials instead of installing expensive alarms, emergency exits, and firefighting equipment. 

PAKISTAN’S ANTI-BLASPHEMY LAWS ARE REALLY INTENSE:

Sarah,

Many Muslim countries have laws prohibiting insults against the prophet Muhammad, the Koran or Islam.  Pakistan is really taking this law to another level.  This is bad news for the country’s 1.6 million Christians.

This month, an 11 year old girl who may be disabled was imprisoned by Pakistani authorities for alleging burning pages of the Koran.  She is a Christian living in a Christian neighborhood in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.  The police arrested her after an angry mob had gathered outside her house.  Now it seems that the charges may have been fabricated and there is no hard evidence that a Koran was burned.

This is not an isolated incident:

- In July, an angry mob beat a man to death for allegedly insulting the Koran.

- Right now, a 45 year old Christian mother sits on death row for insulting the Koran.  She denies the charges.

-In March 2011, gunmen killed the only Christian member of Pakistan’s cabinet.

-In January 2011, a politician was killed by his bodyguard after he criticized the anti-blasphemy law.

Bottom line: Don’t insult Islam while in Pakistan.