Tag: Pakistan

Pakistani Christians’ homes ransacked by mob after son falsely charged with abduction, rape

August 28, 2018 Pakistan Bonded labourers, Kidnapping, Pakistan, Sheikhupura, Women

A Pakistani family seeks justice almost two months after their 22-year-old son was falsely accused of abducting a 19-year-old woman, which led in turn to the looting and ransacking of Christians’ houses. Early on 9 July, Nabeela Bibi of Rahimabad village, Sheikhupura, went missing; her father, Muhammad Hanif, said he . . . Read More

No religious minority representative on Pakistan PM’s new cabinet

August 22, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Caste, Elections, Imran Khan, Minorities, Pakistan, Women

Pakistan’s new prime minister Imran Khan is facing criticism after failing to appoint a single member of a religious minority group onto his cabinet. “As an offence to many, the new team doesn’t include a single member from the minority groups in the country as neither a Hindu, Christian or . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian assembly member vows to protect rights of religious minorities

August 16, 2018 Pakistan Divorce, Minorities, Pakistan, Pakistan Peoples Party, Sindh

A Pakistani Christian recently elected onto his provincial assembly has vowed to “protect the rights of all religious minorities”, reports not-for-profit Christians in Pakistan. Anthony Naveed, who was elected to the Sindh Assembly in last month’s elections, told media he will “try my best to promote the rights of various . . . Read More

Blasphemy accusation draws mob to Pakistan town’s only Christian street

August 13, 2018 Pakistan Blasphemy, Gujranwala, Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan

As horrific details emerge of a young Muslim artist being tortured to death for alleged blasphemy, separately a young Christian man has been charged with blaspheming against Islam’s prophet, a crime punishable with death in Pakistan. Farhan Aziz, 26, from Muslim Town in Gujranwala district, about 100 kilometres from Lahore, . . . Read More

Blasphemers should be put to death, says one Pakistan party as elections near

July 11, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Elections, Islamabad, Lahore, Minorities, Mumtaz Qadri, Pakistan, Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan

Ahead of Pakistan’s general elections later this month, the newly established Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party is gaining traction with its anti-blasphemy agenda, Al-Jazeera reports. The party calls for blasphemers against Islam to be put to death and for those who kill alleged blasphemers to be celebrated. Its election posters often . . . Read More

Christians matter least in Pakistani politics

July 5, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Balochistan, Blasphemy, Constitution, Elections, Imran Khan, Karachi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Lahore, Minorities, Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League, Pakistan Peoples Party, Patras Masih, PTI, Punjab, Sajid Masih, Shahbaz Bhatti, Sindh, Taliban, Youhanabad

As Pakistan prepares for elections later this month, the country’s minorities – particularly its Christians – have expressed dismay at their lack of representation among the candidates. Among the thousands of candidates contesting hundreds of provincial and national constituencies across the country, not a single Christian is nominated by any . . . Read More

Pakistan’s new cardinal says government unable to stop religious extremism

June 29, 2018 Pakistan Asylum seekers, Blasphemy, Constitution, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Islamic extremism, Karachi, Minorities, Pakistan, Religious freedom

Newly-appointed Pakistani Cardinal Joseph Coutts during a courtesy visit of relatives following the ceremony for the creation of new cardinals at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on 28 June. (Photo: TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images)

Pakistan’s first cardinal in nearly a quarter of a century says his country’s government is unable to control Islamic extremism. “Our government is not strong enough to control the kind of extremism that has developed in the country,” Joseph Coutts, Archbishop of Karachi since 2012, said, adding: “It is enough to accuse . . . Read More

New cardinal warns of rise of ‘extremist Islam’ in Madagascar

June 19, 2018 Africa, Antananarivo, Catholics, Comoros, Islamic extremism, Madagascar, Mahajanga, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia

Mosque in Diego Suarez, in the far north of Madagascar. (Photo: Leonora Ellie Enking, via Flickr)

One of Pope Francis’s new cardinals has warned of the rise of “extremist Islam” in the southern African island nation of Madagascar. “The fundamentalists are beginning to establish themselves and, little by little, as their numbers grow, we start to wonder when they will really show who they are, and . . . Read More

Pakistan: Christians told they can’t have a church in Muslim-majority village

June 4, 2018 Pakistan Churches, Crosses, Faisalabad, Minorities, Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League, Punjab, Terrorism

Christians in a village in Pakistan’s Punjab province have been told to remove every visible sign of Christianity from their church, six months after being forced to sign a form pledging they would no longer hold services. The 40 Christian families in Nayya Sarabah (Chak 336) village, part of Toba . . . Read More

Two Pakistani Christian sewerage workers die from poisonous gases

May 29, 2018 Pakistan Caste, Karachi, Minorities, Pakistan, Punjab, Sweepers

As Pakistani Christians comprise more than 80 per cent of the country's sewerage and street cleaning force, they run a higher risk of work related injuries, sometimes causing death. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Two more Christian sewerage workers have died in Pakistan while opening a clogged sewerage line without protective gear. Data collected by World Watch Monitor in 2013 showed that, despite Pakistani Christians comprising only 1.5 per cent of the population, they account for more than 80 per cent of the sewerage . . . Read More

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