Oppressed Christian in Pakistan Charged with Blasphemy

Fight against corruption results in false allegations, son says. 

LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – A Christian in Pakistan with mental health issues has been arrested and charged under blasphemy, terrorism and sedition laws, sources said. Police arrested Rasheed Masih, 48, on Aug. 6 and on allegations that he intended to incite religious tensions by recording a video against Islam and the government. […]

Police in India Arrest Pastor after Hindu Extremist Attack

Assailants try to force church leader to teach about their gods.

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – When a Hindu extremist mob assaulted Christian men, women and children during a church service in India in late September, police jailed the pastor and charged him and four other Christians, sources said. In Rajasthan state’s Hanumangarh District, several Hindu women intruded into the church building in Nohar city followed […]

Christians in India Cleared of False Forcible Conversion Charges

Lives of victims of concocted allegations devastated.

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – India’s Supreme Court on Oct. 17 quashed all criminal proceedings against Christians falsely accused of mass religious conversions, delivering a scathing rebuke to authorities for using the criminal justice system as a “tool of harassment of innocent persons.” Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra’s 158-page judgment vindicated Pastor Vijay […]

Probe of Anti-Christian Violence in Jaranwala, Pakistan Rejected

Hopes for justice dim for victims of attacks.

LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – Hopes for justice for victims of 2023 attacks on Christians in Jaranwala town, Pakistan ostensibly ended when a high court on Oct. 22 rejected all petitions filed by individuals and Christian groups seeking a judicial investigation, sources said. After a delay of two years, Lahore High Court Justice […]

Blind Christian in Pakistan Charged with Blasphemy

Objecting to harassment results in false, serious allegation.

LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – A 49-year-old blind Christian in Pakistan has been arrested and charged with blasphemy, punishable by death, after a Muslim accused him of insulting Islam’s prophet, his mother said. Martha Yousaf, the nearly 80-year-old mother of Nadeem Masih, said that Waqas Mazhar and other Muslims often harassed her son, […]

Christian in Pakistan Wins Faith Change on National ID Card

Court grants rare exception to system that favors Islam.

LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – A 22-year-old Christian man in Pakistan has won a seven-month legal battle to have his religious designation corrected on his national identity card. In a systemic issue that has deep legal and social consequences for Pakistan’s vulnerable minority communities, Bahawalpur Civil Judge Anam Younis on Oct. 17 directed […]

Moves to Curb Pakistan’s Blasphemy Law Surface

Proposed changes, crackdown on TLP indicate resolve.

LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – A massive crackdown on an Islamist religio-political party and a recent announcement by Pakistan’s law minister suggest authorities have resolved to make procedural changes to controversial blasphemy laws, sources said. The goal of such changes would be to prevent people from being falsely accused of blasphemy, which in […]

Police in Pakistan Clash with Islamic Extremist Party

Officials seek to ban TLP.

LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – Christians in Pakistan expressed cautious relief after a massive crackdown last week on a Muslim extremist political party that has wreaked violence on Christians and other religious minorities. The Punjab Province government on Oct. 13 initiated a large-scale, pre-dawn operation to dismantle potentially violent protests by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik […]

Wrongly Imprisoned Christian in Pakistan Dies after Release

Pastor languished in prison for 13 years.

LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – A pastor acquitted of a false blasphemy charge after 13 years of languishing in prison tragically died two days after his release, a rights group said. Pastor Zafar Bhatti, 62-year-old founder of the Jesus World Mission Church ministry, died of cardiac arrest on Sunday (Oct. 5) at his […]

Christians in India Say Pastor’s ‘Accidental’ Death was Murder

Police, media said to aid in cover-up.

HYDERABAD, India (Morning Star News) – More than six months after police in southern India dismissed the death of a pastor as a road accident, Christians in the region say there is strong evidence the continually threatened evangelist was murdered. Pastor Praveen Pagadala’s body was found on the side of the road near Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh […]