LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A third accusation of blasphemy in less than a month compelled Christians fearful of Islamic retribution to flee their homes in an eastern city in Pakistan this week, sources said. Muslim crowds including members of Islamic extremist groups blocked the main Sargodha-Faisalabad highway for hours on Sunday (July 16) after […]
Christians in Pakistan Flee Homes after Blasphemy Accusation
Third case in less than a month in the same area creates panic.
Bail Denied to Christian under Islamist Pressure in Pakistan
Police, hard-line Muslims connive in baseless blasphemy case, sources say.
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – Police in Pakistan on Tuesday (July 11) kept a Christian charged with blasphemy from appearing at his bail hearing, compelling a judge to bow to pressure from a crowd of slogan-shouting Muslims and deny his release, sources said. Haroon Shahzad, resident of a village near Sargodha, had been kept in […]
Arrested Christian in Pakistan Denies Sharing Facebook Post
Muslim leader advised complainant that content was not derogatory.
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – Police in Pakistan on Saturday (July 8) arrested a Christian for allegedly sharing a post on Facebook even though his village’s Islamic cleric and other Muslims denied that it amounted to blasphemy, his brother said. Wasim Masih told Morning Star News that Sargodha police registered a blasphemy case against his 35-year-old brother, […]
Christian in Pakistan Charged with Blasphemy for Bible Post
Dozens of families flee potential Islamist backlash.
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – Police in Pakistan charged a Christian with blasphemy on Friday (June 30) after he posted Bible verses on Facebook that infuriated Muslims, causing dozens of Christian families in a village near Sargodha city to flee their homes. Tensions flared in Chak 49 Shumaali village, Punjab Province, after 45-year-old Haroon Shahzad […]
Muslim in Pakistan Confesses to Killing Christian Woman
Widow was threatened for refusing to marry him and convert, relative says.
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A Christian family in Lahore, Pakistan is seeking justice and protection after four Muslims abducted, gang-raped and killed a widow for refusing to convert to Islam and marry the primary suspect, sources said. In the killing of 40-year-old Shazia Imran Masih last month, the assailants slashed her neck and doused […]
Pakistan Aims to Try Blasphemy Cases under Anti-Terror Law
Government bows to Muslim extremist party’s demand.
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A government concession to demands by a Muslim extremist political party to allow blasphemy charges under Pakistan’s anti-terrorism laws has raised fears of more injustice for those accused under the harsh statutes, sources said. Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Economic Affairs Minister Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on June 17 signed […]
Christian in Pakistan Sentenced to Death under Blasphemy Law
Attorney and father shocked at verdict in case lacking evidence.
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A court in Bahawalpur, Pakistan on Tuesday (May 30) handed the death penalty to a 22-year-old Christian on an unsubstantiated conviction under the country’s blasphemy laws, sources said. Lazar Allah Rakha, attorney for Noman Masih, said that the sessions court announced its verdict at the New Central Jail Bahawalpur, in […]
Muslim, Police in Pakistan Beat and Confine Pregnant Christian
Mother of five held in employer’s home for a week.
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A Christian housecleaner in Pakistan was beaten and illegally confined for a week by her Muslim employers after she tried to leave her job due to pregnancy, she said. Asma Gulfam, a 28-year-old Catholic maid in the Paka Ghara area of Sialkot District, Punjab Province, said she had worked for […]
Two Christians, 18 and 14, Accused of Blasphemy in Pakistan
Family devastated as youths jailed on baseless charge.
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – Babar Sandhu Masih was resting after lunch on Thursday afternoon (May 18) when he heard a commotion outside his house in the Qurban Lines neighborhood of Lahore, Pakistan. Masih went outside to find his neighbor, policeman Zahid Sohail, beating his son and another Christian boy. His son Adil, 18, and […]
Christian Widow Accused of Blasphemy Released on Bail
School worker threatened with life imprisonment under draconian statutes.
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A court in Pakistan on Saturday (May 13) released on bail a Christian woman charged under a blasphemy statute that calls for life in prison, her attorney said. Lazar Allah Rakha told Morning Star News that Arifwala Additional Sessions Judge Ijaz Ahmad Phulwaran on Friday (May 12) admitted the post-arrest bails of […]