Tag: Pakistan

Pakistan: Christian family attacked for helping build church wall

March 6, 2018 Pakistan Blasphemy, Churches, Faisalabad, Islamic extremism, Pakistan, Sahiwal, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan, Women

Five members of a Christian family in northeast Pakistan were attacked and injured as they helped to build a boundary wall around their church on Sunday, 4 March. The pastor of the Pakistan Gospel Assemblies church in Yousufwala village, on the outskirts of the Punjabi city of Sahiwal, told World . . . Read More

Religious-freedom violations in education ‘under-reported’

March 1, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Blasphemy, Children, Education, Iran, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Religious freedom

A school compound in East Africa. Many children face bias in education, discrimination and abuse because of their religion or the beliefs of their parents. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A new report highlights the ways in which schoolchildren and their families experience religious discrimination and calls for it to end. The report, ‘Discrimination on the Basis of Religion or Belief in Education’, by advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), explores violations of religious freedom in schools in Myanmar, Iran, . . . Read More

Pakistan blasphemy suspect says he jumped from fourth floor to escape forced sex act

February 26, 2018 Pakistan Blasphemy, Lahore, Pakistan, Patras Masih, Police, Sajid Masih, Torture

A suspect in a blasphemy case in Lahore, Pakistan, claims he was tortured by police and jumped from a fourth floor window to avoid being forced by officers to perform oral sex on his cousin, who is also under investigation. Sajid Masih, 24, suffered multiple fractures after jumping on Friday, . . . Read More

Asia Bibi’s family and Boko Haram survivor visit Pope

February 26, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Nigeria, Pakistan, Pope Francis

Rome’s Colosseum was bathed in red light on Saturday night (24 February) in solidarity with victims of religious persecution, as Reuters reported. The light-show marked a meeting between Pope Francis and family members of Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy and in prison since 2009, . . . Read More

Amnesty: ‘Discrimination rife in all regions of the world … with deadly consequences’

February 23, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Boko Haram, Censorship, Cuba, Fidel Castro, Fulani herdsmen, Gujrat, Human rights, Iran, Lakshan Dias, Marawi, Mardan, Nadeem Masih, Nawaz Sharif, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Religious freedom, Sri Lanka, Sub-Saharan Africa

Buddhist flags are waved during a mass demonstration against Christianity in Sri Lanka, April 2017. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A review of the human-rights situation in 159 countries during 2017, published by Amnesty International yesterday (22 February), shows that religious persecution continues in the form of threats, attacks, extrajudicial killings and even genocide, while harsh sentences continue to be handed out – sometimes even death sentences – for changing . . . Read More

Pakistan: 800 Christian families flee neighbourhood after blasphemy accusation

February 20, 2018 Pakistan Blasphemy, Lahore, Nabeel Masih, Pakistan, Pashtun, Patras Masih

Several Islamic clerics and a few Christian leaders held a press conference at a police station in Lahore, Pakistan, this evening (20 February) to send a message to at least 800 families who fled a Christian neighbourhood in the city after a 20-year-old Christian man was accused of posting blasphemous content on Facebook, . . . Read More

Asia Bibi central to trade deals, EU tells Pakistan

February 16, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Balochistan, Blasphemy, Education, Europe, Islamic extremism, Pakistan, Punjab, Rawalpindi, Sweepers

The EU’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, Jan Figeľ, told Pakistani officials during a recent visit that the renewal of their export privileges to Europe depends on the release of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman on death row for blasphemy since 2010. “The EU countries have started . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian says daughter, 12, abducted, forced to convert to Islam and marry

February 13, 2018 Pakistan Children, Islamabad, Islamic extremism, Marriage, Pakistan

A 12-year-old Pakistani Christian girl, who disappeared in November, was abducted, forced to convert to Islam and marry her abductor, according to her father. Elisha, daughter of Iqbal Masih, appeared in the High Court in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, on Thursday 8 February, where she introduced herself by a new Muslim . . . Read More

Pakistan: 31 sentenced over ‘blasphemy’ killing, 26 acquitted

February 12, 2018 Pakistan Blasphemy, Mardan, Pakistan

Protestors in Pakistan’s capital Karachi call for justice in the case of Mashal Khan’s murder on 22 April 2017. (IPhoto: RIZWAN TABASSUM/AFP/Getty Images)

A Pakistani court last week sentenced one man to death and five to life imprisonment – while 25 others received various prison sentences – for their involvement in the murder of Mashal Khan, a 23-year-old student who was alleged to have committed blasphemy. The court acquitted 26 others for lack . . . Read More

Pakistan: Suspected killer of Christian student freed

January 30, 2018 Pakistan Caste, Lahore, Multan, Pakistan, Sharoon Masih, Vehari

The Muslim man arrested and jailed for killing a Christian fellow student has been released on bail, reports Asia News. Judges at the Multan High Court in Lahore, who released Ahmed Raza, said “no clear evidence was collected to attest to [his] guilt”. Sharoon Masih, 17, was beaten to death . . . Read More

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