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Pakistan

  • Tortured To Death in Police Custody

    Sources for The Voice of the Martyrs in Pakistan report that a 26-year-old Christian man, Nasir Masih, died in police custody on August 19, after being arrested on false theft charges. According to Nasir's father, Mukhtar Masih, some young Muslims took Nasir from his home in Baldia, Shiekhupura, pretending to be friendly. Several hours later, police informed the family that charges of theft had been brought against him by the Muslim men.

    While holding him at the police station, police alledgedly tortured Nasir, who was transferred to the local hospital where he died.

    As a result of this death, hundreds of local Christians demonstrated in front of the local municipal office. Police used batons and fired shots into the air to break up the demonstration. Seventeen people were arrested, including two pastors. The pastors and two others were later released, but ten remain in custody. Charges have been laid for rioting and obstructing traffic.

    A case has been registered against ten people, including six police officers, for the murder of Nasir, but, at last report, there have been no arrests.

    Pray for the family of Nasir, as they suffer through their grief. Pray that Christians will demonstrate the love of Christ in the midst of their calls for justice. Pray for protection for Christians who frequently face violence at the hands of police, as well as Islamic militants.

    It is not uncommon for Christians to be falsely accused of various crimes in Pakistan. A Pakistan-based interdenominational agency, The Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), estimates that there are over 1500 Christians in prison on false charges in Punjab alone. The October edition of The Voice of the Martyrs Newsletter will feature an article on Christian prisoners in Pakistan and how you can help them and their families. Click here to subscribe today.

    For more information on persecution facing Christians in Pakistan,click here.
  • Witnesses Withdraw Statements in Fear

    On Christmas Day, 2002, a bomb was thrown through the window of a church in Chianwali, Pakistan, killing three girls and injuring several others (click here for details). The attackers were identified by witnesses. However, according to a July 30 report from Jubilee Campaign, the main witness has recently withdrawn his statement because of threats against him. Another witness has likewise withdrawn an earlier statement. While the case has been weakened, the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) remain hopeful that justice will be done in this case.
  • Bill Drafted to Revise Controversial Law

     
    Raza Hayat Hiraj
    Pakistan's State Minister
    for Law and Parliamentary Affairs

    The government of Pakistan has drafted a bill, called the Criminal Law Amendment Act, intended to revise some of the laws based on a strict interpretation of the Koran. The amendment would make "honor killings" illegal, as well as amending the Hudood ordinances (punishments based on the Koran) and the blasphemy laws. The state minister for law and parliamentary affairs, Raza Hayat Hiraj made the announcement on television on July 8. No details on the proposed amendments have been made available. On July 12, Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain announced that the draft had been referred to the Council of Islamic Ideology. Many Muslim clerics are opposing any change to the laws.

    Pakistan's blasphemy law has been frequently misused against Christians. Those accused are typically presumed guilty until proven innocent and often languish in prison for years until their case is heard. There they are often subject to attacks and abuse by guards and inmates and pressured to convert to Islam. At the present time, ten Christians are in prison on blasphemy charges. The law has often been used against Christians simply because of their religious identity or for the personal gain of the accuser.

    Pray that this draft bill will bring positive change to Pakistan. Pray for the release of those falsely accused of blasphemy.


    Parvez Masih     

    One of the more blatant abuses of the blasphemy law concerns the arrest in April 2001 of Parvez Masih. Parvez, was the headmaster of a Christian school near Lahore, Pakistan when some of his students asked him if it was true that Mohammed had a nine-year-old wife. Parvez graciously mentioned her name, "Aisha," and told them to look in the Koran. On April 1, 2001 he was arrested and accused of violating Law 295C, blaspheming Mohammed as a result of the testimonies of two of the boys. It is believed that a teacher of a rival high school was involved in an attempt to close the Christian school.

    Parvez continues to be held in prison and appears in session court as required but has not yet been sentenced. His family is able to visit him twice a month. You can write Parvez an encouraging note at:

    Parvez Masih
    District Jail
    Sialkot
    PAKISTAN

    For more information on persecution of Christians in Pakistan,click here.
  • Christians Released from Prison -- Updates On December 10, the Persecution and Prayer Alert reported on the arrest of Anwar Masih, charged under Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law. For more details on the charges, click here. Through the intervention of the Pakistani Center for Legal Aid, Assistance, and Settlement (CLAAS), Anwar was released on bail on June 4.

    Praise God for Anwar's freedom. Pray that the charges against him will be completely dropped. For more information on persecution facing Christians in Pakistan, click here.
  • Christian Girl Brutally Raped This morning, the Voice of the Martyrs learned of the brutal rape of seven-year-old Sharee Komal by a Muslim man near her home in Lahore, Pakistan. Sharee and her mother live in a hut near a Christian graveyard. Just as she was preparing to leave the house in the mid-morning of May 29, Sharee's mother noticed that her daughter was missing. Thinking she had gone outside to play, she looked in the nearby graveyard, but Sharee was nowhere to be found. Seven hours later, the little girl was finally found, bruised and bleeding from a vicious rape. She told her mother that Abid Ali, who lives nearby, had kidnapped her, luring her away with a promise of buying her toys. He then took her in a dark room where he tortured and raped her. Abid Ali threatened to kill her if she revealed the crime and his identity.

    Talking to representatives from All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), Sharee's grandmother Karmi Bibi said, "How these people can be so brutal to rape a 7-year-old girl? We are not safe. Next time one of our other Christian daughters will be raped and we will be as helpless as we are now. Where do we go now? The law is not even on our side."

    The rape of Christian women by Muslim men is an ongoing travesty. Perpetrators are rarely arrested and almost never convicted. APMA chairman, Shahbaz Bhatti is asking that Christians around the world pray for the psychological and physical recovery of Sharee Komal and that justice be given in this case.

    For more information on persecution in Pakistan,click here.
  • Pakistani Christian Dies From Police Attack

    The Voice of the Martyrs has learned that Samuel Masih, a Pakistani Christian accused of blasphemy under Pakistan's strict Law 295, died tonight (May 28, 2004) around 9:00 p.m. local time in the Lahore hospital where he was a patient.

    Masih was arrested August 23, 2003 and was accused of throwing waste against the side of a mosque. He was held in the Lahore Central Jail until, suffering from tuberculosis, he was transferred to a local hospital on May 22.

    Two days later, early in the morning, Masih was attacked by one of the policemen assigned to guard his room. The policeman, a Muslim, reportedly told investigators that it was his religious duty, as a Muslim, to kill the Christian man. "I have offered my religious duty for killing the man. I'm spiritually satisfied and ready to face the consequences," he is reported to have said.

    VOM sources said the body had been taken to the Cathedral Church Lahore, and that police were pressuring church leaders to finish the burial tonight. Church leaders refused, saying they would hold the funeral and burial tomorrow morning. The situation is reportedly tense.

    The Voice of the Martyrs encourages Christians to pray for Masih's family as they grieve his loss.
  • Family Asked to Withdraw Their Case After Arrest is Made

    On May 5, the Persecution and Prayer Alert reported on the death of nineteen-year-old Javed Anjum after being tortured by the students and staff of an Islamic religious school (click here for more information). According to Pakistan's "Daily Times," while on his deathbed, Javed Anjum identified Ghulam Rasool, the school's prayer leader, as one of those responsible. Rasool was arrested and, after nine days of interrogation, confessed to torturing Anjum with a club. He also identified two others, Muhammad Tayyab and Omar Hayat.


    Shahbaz Bhatti

    According to Shahbaz Bhatti, chairman of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, the authorities are now pressuring the Anjum's family to withdraw their case as a compromise. Because of the strong control that Islamic groups have in Pakistan, authorities are very reluctant to press charges against Muslim religious leaders.

    Pray that justice will be done in this case, and that those responsible for this horrible crime will be held accountable. Pray for the family and friends of Anjum, as they mourn the loss of this young man.

    For more information on the situation facing Christians in Pakistan,click here.
  • Pastor Kidnapped But Escapes

    On May 16, Pentecostal preacher Rev. Wilson Fazal left for church and disappeared. Fazal had faced previous threats. Three days before, he had evaded a kidnapping attempt. He, and other Christians in the city of Quetta, had been receiving threats, warning them to stop preaching to Muslims, including a letter calling itself Mahaz-e-Jihad, or "Frontier of the Holy War." The Voice of the Martyrs has received copies of two of these letters that he had received prior to his kidnapping. They are available below.

    On May 11, he had received a letter from a group calling itself Mahaz-e-Jihad, or "Frontier of the Holy War" saying, "You are an infidel and blasphemer, stop preaching Christianity in schools, hospitals and Churches, Wage war (Jihad) against America." Believers across Pakistan were rightfully concerned when he vanished without a trace.

    Two days later, on May 18, Fazal was found safe in the capital of Islamabad. According to Fazal, he had been taken 600 kilometres from Quetta, to the city of Peshawar, where he managed to escape from his captors.

    Compass Direct reports that the whereabouts of six other Pentecostal pastors from Quetta are unknown at this time. While they may have also been kidnapped, it is speculated that they may have gone into hiding to avoid capture.

    Praise God that Fazal is safe. Pray that he will not face further danger and that those responsible for this kidnapping will be found. Pray for the other missing pastors, that they will be safe. Pray for their families during this difficult time.

    For more information on persecution in Pakistan,click here.

    Jihad Blessings -- Allah Mercy

    Religion Christian Scholar: Wilson Fazal -- Quetta Baluchistan

    You are a Blasphemer of Allah.

    1. Get ready to face the Jihadi Mujahideen
    2. Accept the last religion (Islam)
    3. Stop preaching Christianity in Schools, Hospitals and Churches.
    4. Join us and preach Islam in America.
    5. Jihad (fight) against America.
    6. Do all this for the sake of your children and get a lot of money from us.

    Keep all this matter secret, and don't tell anybody.

    Get ready, Get ready, Get ready........... Otherwise.

    WARNING FOR CHRISTIANS

    DIE ON THE WAY OF ALLAH

    The one who does not know to die, does not know to live.

    This is to inform all Christian scholars, not to preach the false teaching of Christianity among Muslims. Throw out all Muslims from all of your Christian institutes and Churches and don't let them enter your institutes and churches at all.

    Otherwise you should get ready for our suicide attacks.
  • President Orders Review of Blasphemy Law

     
    Pervez Musharraf
    President of Pakistan

    Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced on May 15 that he is calling for a review of some of the country's strict Islamic laws to ensure that they are not being abused. This includes the controversial blasphemy law, which imposes the death penalty for anyone convicted of blaspheming Mohammad or the Koran. According to Reuters, Musharraf said that the blasphemy law needs to be re-examined to ensure that it is not misused by those seeking to settle personal scores. Several Christians have been convicted under this law, often as a result of questionable accusations, though no one has yet been executed.

    Pray that this law will be repealed. Pray for those still in prison, charged under this draconian law.

    For more information on Christian persecution in Pakistan,click here.
  • Boy Dies After Facing Torture

     

    Students studying at an Islamic school in Pakistan

    A young Pakistani Christian faced brutal torture, leading to his death, at the hands of the students and staff of an Islamic religious school. According to a Voice of the Martyrs source in Pakistan, Javeed Anjum was returning to his home in Toba Tek Singh, Punjab, on the afternoon of April 17 when he became thirsty. Seeing water taps at an Islamic school, he helped himself when a staff member of the school approached. When the staff member found out that Javeed was a Christian, he was taken inside the school. There the students and staff gathered around him and ordered that he embrace Islam by reciting the Islamic creed. When he refused, they began to beat him.

    Javeed was kept at the school for five days, facing beatings and torture in an attempt to force a conversion, but he steadfastly refused to deny Christ. Finally, when his physical condition had deteriorated, he was taken to the police station where he was accused by the school administration of trying to steal a water pump. When police saw his condition, they refused to accept the charges against him. He was taken to a hospital for treatment and there gave police his statement. On May 2, Javeed died of kidney failure, as a result of the beatings he had faced. An autopsy has shown the brutal torture he faced at the school. A police report has been filed against the school administration.

    Pray for Javeed's family and the Christian community, as they face the reality of this terrible incident. Pray for strength and healing for each one impacted by this death. Pray for those involved in Javeed's torture, that they will experience the love of Christ, even through seeing the faithfulness of Javeed.

    For more information on persecution facing Christians in Pakistan,click here.

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