Tag: Patras Masih

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

‘Extremists given a free hand’ – Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

April 16, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Balochistan, Blasphemy, Human rights, Islamabad, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Minorities, Nadeem Masih, Pakistan, Patras Masih, Quetta, Religious freedom, Sajid Masih, Sawan Masih, UN

Pakistani Christians experience an increase in violence such as a suicide attack on the Bethel Methodist Church in Quetta in December last year that killed more than ten and injured dozens of people. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Two Pakistani Christians were killed and at least three injured in a drive-by shooting on Sunday (15 April) in Essa Nagri, a Christian-majority area in Quetta, capital of the impoverished Balochistan province in the southwest. The victims, aged 19 and 28, had just left a church service when they were . . . Read More

Pakistan Christians process in Lahore, month after mob attack

March 27, 2018 Pakistan Blasphemy, Lahore, Pakistan, Patras Masih, Sajid Masih, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan, Torture

A girl is preparing to walk in the Palm Sunday procession through her Christian neighbourhood in Lahore, Pakistan. (Photo taken from UCAN video)

Some 200 Pakistani Christians who fled their neighbourhood in a Lahore suburb over a month ago, after mobs of Muslims demanded the arrest of a Christian for alleged blasphemy, were back in the streets on 25 March for a Palm Sunday procession, as in a video by Catholic news agency . . . Read More

Pakistan Senate seeks same sentences for blasphemy offenders and those who falsely accuse

March 13, 2018 Pakistan Blasphemy, Elections, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Kidnapping, Marriage, Pakistan, Patras Masih, Sajid Masih, Sharia, Women

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)

Pakistan’s Senate Special Committee on Human Rights has recommended that those who falsely accuse someone of blasphemy should receive the same punishment as those convicted of blasphemy. The Committee also said registration of a blasphemy case should include a minimum of two witnesses who support the charges. Right-wing political parties . . . 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

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

Catching Our Eye