Tag: Lahore

Pakistan’s anti-blasphemy protests showcase minorities’ plight

November 27, 2017 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Barelvi, Blasphemy, Gujranwala, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Minorities, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Mumtaz Qadri, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League, Peshawar, Prophet Muhammad, Punjab, Rawalpindi, Salmaan Taseer, Sheikhupura, Sufi, Sunni, Taliban, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan

In November there were widespread anti-blasphemy protests in Islamabad and other cities in reaction to proposed changes to an election law. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Anti-blasphemy protests in Pakistan have once again highlighted the fragile position of the country’s religious minorities. Life in various parts of Pakistan virtually came to a halt on Saturday (25 November) after the police, paramilitary and other law enforcement agencies clashed with rioters in the capital, Islamabad, resulting in protests . . . Read More

What makes Pakistan’s small religious minorities so significant?

November 24, 2017 Pakistan Caste, Constitution, Human rights, Lahore, Minorities, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Pakistan, Punjab

Pakistan conducted its first census in 19 years in July. All the results have now been released, except those on religious minorities. The government has provided no explanation. On 22 November a small group of protesters, mostly Christians, gathered outside the Press Club in Lahore, the major city in Pakistan’s . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian sent to prison for ‘insulting Islam’ despite mental ill-health

November 10, 2017 Pakistan Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Lahore, Pakistan

A Christian man was arrested on the day of his son’s funeral in Pakistan last weekend, and charged with insulting Islam – blasphemy – despite being recognised as mentally ill. He is now in prison. Iqbal Masih, 65, a retired father of nine, is from the Fazlia Colony of Lahore, . . . Read More

Pakistan: illiterate Christian boy, 16, forced to confess ‘blasphemy’ to escape mob violence

August 21, 2017 Pakistan Blasphemy, Bonded labourers, Gujranwala, Islamic extremism, Lahore, Nabeel Masih, Pakistan, Quran, Rimsha Masih

An angry Pakistani mob almost killed a 16-year-old Christian boy – who is completely illiterate and also slightly mentally challenged – for allegedly burning the pages of a Quran. He was then apparently forced to confess to the alleged crime, and is now in custody – despite apparent inconsistencies in . . . Read More

Blasphemy laws violate human rights in 1/3 nations – USCIRF

August 15, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Blasphemy, Gojra, Iran, Joseph Colony, Lahore, Pakistan, Qatar, Somalia, Yemen

Over a third of the world’s countries have blasphemy laws that violate at least one internationally recognised human rights principle, according to a new report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Most blasphemy laws are “embedded in criminal codes” and are “vaguely worded”, with “unduly harsh penalties . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian boy, 16, charged with blasphemy for discussing his faith

July 19, 2017 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Barelvi, Blasphemy, Gujrat, Lahore, Mardan, Pakistan, Punjab

A 16-year-old Pakistani Christian boy has been charged with blasphemy for talking with a colleague about his belief in Jesus, the second such incident in a month. Shahzad Masih, 16, a cleaner at a hospital in the city of Dinga (near the religiously conservative city of Gujrat), was arrested on . . . Read More

Divorce law for Pakistani Christians ‘modernised’

June 30, 2017 Pakistan Divorce, Imran Khan, Lahore, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, PTI, Punjab

Pakistan’s High Court in Lahore has struck out an amendment in its Christian Divorce Act (1869), meaning Christians will now be able to divorce in a dignified way, without needing to resort to false accusations of adultery. Pakistan’s existing family laws – which are applicable to Christians only – are close . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian accused of blasphemy for saying he believes Jesus was final prophet

June 22, 2017 Pakistan Blasphemy, Gojra, Islamic extremism, Lahore, Quran

A Pakistani bike shop owner has been accused of blasphemy after telling one of his customers that Christians believe Jesus to have been the final prophet. Ashfaq Masih, 28, was arrested following accusations that he had “disrespected” Islam’s prophet, Muhammad. The incident took place in Lahore last Thursday (15 June) . . . Read More

Prosecutor in Youhanabad lynching case found guilty of trying to convert 42 Christians

May 31, 2017 Pakistan Lahore, Punjab, Youhanabad

Location where a mob burnt alive two men in angry reaction to twin church suicide bomb attacks in Youhanabad, March 2015. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The Pakistani prosecutor who allegedly offered to release Christians in the Youhanabad lynching trial if they converted to Islam has been found guilty of proselytising, reports Dawn. Syed Anees Shah, the deputy district public prosecutor (DDPP), was suspended when the allegation came to light during a hearing in March 2017, . . . Read More

Pakistan: Christian boy, 16, accused of Facebook blasphemy again refused bail

May 17, 2017 Pakistan Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Lahore, Nabeel Masih, Nadeem Masih

A Pakistani Christian boy accused of blasphemy for “liking” and “sharing” a Facebook post which “defamed and disrespected” the Kaaba in Mecca – the building at the centre of Islam’s most sacred mosque – has again been refused bail. In February, 16-year-old Nabeel Masih was refused bail by a local . . . Read More

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