Violence against Muslims Accused of Blasphemy in Pakistan Spurs Calls for Reform of Laws

Christians long persecuted under the statutes are hopeful.

LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – Gruesome violence against Muslims accused of blasphemy in Pakistan has reignited calls for amending blasphemy statutes commonly used to persecute Christians. The lynching of a Muslim student over blasphemy charges at a university in northwestern Pakistan, the murder of a blasphemy accused Muslim in Punjab Province and mob violence against […]

Christians Accused in Killings in Pakistan Tortured, Pressured to Recant Faith

42 suspects in lynching of Muslims offered freedom if they convert to Islam.

LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – Relatives of jailed Christians in Pakistan said police who tortured the prisoners offered freedom if the detainees converted to Islam, and that a public prosecutor made the same offer in exchange for bail. The accusations come days after the government of Pakistan decried forced conversions of people of minority faiths. […]

Young Christian Shot Dead in Streets of Sheikhupura, Pakistan

Muslim threatened him after sweeper refused his order.

LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A young Christian sanitation worker was gunned down in Pakistan on March 20 for refusing an influential Muslim’s order to clean his outhouse on his day off, sources said. Noman Munir Masih, 20, of Sheikhupura in Punjab Province, was the sole breadwinner of his Pentecostal family after his father died […]

Christian Teenager Charged with Blasphemy in Pakistan Waits in Jail

Image posted on Facebook without his consent, attorney says.

LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A 16-year-old Christian in Pakistan is languishing in jail under a baseless blasphemy charge after a judge declined to grant him bail this month, his attorney said. The judge in Punjab Province’s Kasur District on Feb. 7 denied bail to Nabeel Masih, who has been jailed since Sept. 18, 2016 […]

Christian, 70, Charged with Blasphemy in Pakistan as 106 Muslims Are Acquitted

Separately, Christian on death row freed on bail.

LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A 70-year-old Christian in Pakistan was jailed on blasphemy charges on the same day 106 Muslims accused in a 2013 attack on a Christian colony were acquitted. A mosque leader in the Lambanwali area north of Gujranwala, Punjab Province, on Jan. 28 accused Mukhtar Masih of writing two letters containing […]

Morning Star News’ Top 10 Persecution Stories of 2016

Jihadists fight under the radar in Africa.

(Morning Star News) – While war in the Middle East dominated international headlines, Islamic extremists in the shadows were taking jihad to Christian civilians in Africa with unprecedented intensity in 2016. In Nigeria, Muslim ethnic Fulanis looked less like nomadic herdsmen and more like well-armed, well-funded jihadist militants. Close Muslim relatives and Islamist village mobs […]

Christian in Pakistan Jailed under Vindictive Blasphemy Charge, Sources Say

Separately, son of slain Punjab governor threatened.

LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – Muslims in Pakistan have filed a blasphemy charge against a Christian in retaliation for refusing their demand that he and others cede church land to them, sources said.

Five Muslims Sentenced to Death in Pakistan for Brick Kiln Murders

Eight others receive two years in prsion.Impoverished couple accused of burning Koran.

LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A court in Lahore has handed the death sentence to five Muslims for torturing and killing an impoverished Christian couple over allegations of burning the Koran, sources said. Eight others charged in the attack were sentenced to two years in prison, sources said. Hundreds of villagers in Kot Radha Kishan, […]

Pastor, Family in Pakistan Evicted from Home with Police Help after Muslims Attack

Islamists threaten to stir up religious tensions in property dispute.

LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – Defying a court order, police in Punjab Province forcibly evicted a pastor and his family from their home this week after Muslims attacked them in a bid to seize the property, sources said. Pastor Michael Robert of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Farooqabad, Sheikhupura District, about 55 kilometers (34 miles) […]

Pakistan Supreme Court Delays Ruling on Asia Bibi Case as Islamist Pressures Mount

Justice recuses himself in appeal of death sentence for Christian mother.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – As Islamist groups warned of reprisals for a possible acquittal in Pakistan’s highest profile blasphemy case, the country’s Supreme Court today delayed ruling on an appeal against the death sentence given to Christian mother of five Aasiya Noreen. The ruling on the death sentence given to Noreen, commonly known as […]