Tag Archives: Pakistan

Pakistani Christian Killed by Muslim In-Laws After Wife Accepts Christ as Lord

A 28-year-old Pakistani Christian was murdered by his in-laws after his wife proclaimed Christ as Lord and turned away from Islam.

Aleem Masih was shot three times by the father and brothers of his wife Nadia.  The couple was attempting to flee from Lahore, Pakistan to avoid the very situation in which they were killed.

“The couple fled to Narang Mandi, some 60 kilometers [37 miles] away from Lahore, as Nadia’s Muslim family launched a manhunt for them to avenge the shame their daughter had brought upon them by recanting Islam and marrying a Christian,” Aneeqa Maria, an attorney from the human rights organization The Voice Society, told Morning Star News.

The girl’s family found the couple in a rickshaw and dragged them to a farm where they were severely beaten and shot.  Nadia survived her wounds and was taken to a hospital where she continues to recover.

“The attackers returned to their village and publicly proclaimed that they had avenged their humiliation and restored the pride of the Muslims by killing the couple in cold blood,” Maria explained. “Nadia’s brother, Azhar, then presented himself before the police and confessed to having killed his sister and her Christian husband.”

Muslims in the region are threatening officials to not investigate the case and not to file charges against the girl’s family for their actions.

Muslim Landlord Reportedly Abducts, Forces Christian Woman into Islamic Marriage

The family of a Pakistani woman is demanding the return of a Christian mother of three from a Muslim man who abducted and raped her then forced her into an Islamic marriage.

The British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) says that Fouzia Sadiq, believed to be in her mid-20s, was taken by Muhammed Nazir, 55.  Nazir is a landowner who “employed” the family of the kidnapped woman.

“Muslim landlord Muhammed Nazir … employed the whole family, including the children in a form of modern day slavery, paying very little money and providing squalid shelter,” the organization said in a release. “The husband signed a contract with a thumbprint, unable to read it due to only 7 percent of Christians attaining an adequate level of literacy.”

The family reported the kidnapping but the next day were threatened. They were also told Fouzia was now Nazir’s property, and she had accepted Islam and married him.

“My sister has been missing for five days and police are refusing to register an FIR, my heart is broken,” said her sister Iqra Sadiq. “Our landlord is a cruel man and we have been starving since he stopped the little payment that was due to us. We have no power and have to face such injustice, please help us!”

The head of the BPCA, Wilson Chowdhry, said that the family will likely never see their sister again or have her released because the legal system in Pakistan is weighted in favor of Muslims.

“The authority of a Muslim man’s words significantly outweighs that of Christians, so they have little hope of ever retrieving Fouzia from a life of pain, brutality and debauchery.”

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in May urged President Obama to declare Pakistan a “country of particular concern” for not protecting the rights of non-Muslim religions.

Taliban Leader Mullah Omar Confirmed Dead

He may have died in 2013, but officials in Afghanistan are now confirming for the first time that the leader of the Taliban is dead.

Afghani President Ashraf Ghani released a statement Wednesday citing “credible information” that the one-eyed Omar died in a Karachi, Pakistan hospital in April 2013.

“The government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, based on credible information, confirms that Mullah Mohammad Omar, leader of the Taliban died in April 2013 in Pakistan,” the statement said. “The government of Afghanistan believes that grounds for the Afghan peace talks are more paved now than before, and thus calls on all armed opposition groups to seize the opportunity and join the peace process.”

Omar had been suffering from liver and kidney issues.  Afghani Security Services spokesman Abdul Hassib Seddiqi told the BBC Omar died from health problems.

Several U.S. intelligence officials said they had long believed Omar to have died because of the fractured nature within the current Taliban.

“I’ve tended to believe the rumors that he was dead since the serious splits started in the Taliban,” one official told CNN. “If he were alive, he wouldn’t allow these rumors to continue to threaten the movement’s unity to this degree. He would risk some small exposure to invalidate the rumors, and he has not done that despite incredible internal demands that he do so.”

Analysts are now concerned the official announcement of Omar’s death will spur ISIS to try and gain a foothold among the Taliban supporters in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Pakistani Court Suspends Asia Bibi Death Sentence

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has suspended the death sentence of a Christian woman that many claim was falsely accused of blasphemy by Muslims.

Asia Bibi, who has spent the last five years on death row, was also given permission to appeal the conviction against her.  No date has been set for the appeal.

“The execution of Asia Bibi has been suspended and will remain suspended until the decision of this appeal,” her lawyer told reporters.

The accusations against Bibi came in June 2009 when a group of Muslim women objected to the Christian woman collecting water from a bowl after being ordered to do it by her bosses.  The women then incited a mob by saying Bibi had insulted Muhammad leading to Bibi’s beating by a mob and eventual arrest.

“Today is the happiest day for me and my five children. I am now hopeful that my wife, my children and I will get justice from the Supreme Court of Pakistan,” Bibi’s husband Ashiq Masih told reporters from a hidden location as the family is continually being threatened.

“When I have ever met my wife in her cell before, I have found her weeping most of the time, but today she is happy.”

While Pakistan has never executed someone for blasphemy, several convicted people have been lynched by mobs after their release from prison.

Husband Claims Bounty Placed On Imprisoned Christian Asia Bibi

The husband of Asia Bibi, the Pakistani woman imprisoned on false charges of blasphemy, says that a bounty has been placed upon her head by Muslims who want her killed.

Ashiq Masih, who has been fighting for his wife’s freedom, told MailOnline that Muslim clerics have put a bounty on her head in case she is freed after a hearing later this month.

“The Maulvis [clerics] want her dead,” he told the MailOnline. “They have announced a prize of [98 to $4,915] for anyone who kills Asia. They have even declared that if the court acquits her they will ensure the death sentence stands.”

The family has been also the subject of threats of violence by Muslim groups.  They have been forced to move 15 times since Asia’s death sentence in 2010.  They only go out at night and cover their faces so they cannot be identified.

Ashiq said he misses his wife and wants her home.

“I really love her and miss her presence,’ he said. ‘I cannot sleep at night as I miss her. I miss her smile; I miss everything about her. She is my soul mate. I cannot see her in prison. It breaks my heart. Life has been non-existent without her.”

Groups worldwide have been calling for Bibi’s release from the false charges.

Pakistan Heat Wave Death Toll Skyrockets

The death toll from the heat wave in Karachi, Pakistan has skyrocketed in the last 24 hours.

Reported yesterday at close to 225 victims of the heat, the official toll now stands at over 650 people.  Morgue officials say they are overwhelmed by the number of bodies and that hospitals throughout the region have declared a state of emergency.

Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, the area’s largest hospital, reported treating over 3,000 patients in the last few days.  The city’s main morgue is over capacity.

Authorities have closed schools and even some government offices in an attempt to keep residents from going out in the lethal heat.

Saeed Mangnejo, senior provincial health official, told the Irish Independent newspaper that he expects the death toll to climb further in the next few days.

The wealthy in the city have been receiving tankers of water but the poor are having to go without fresh, cool water.

“This is how it is. No one cares for common poor man here,” Khadim Ali complained as he fanned his cousin, Shahad Ali, a 40-year-old vegetable vendor who collapsed in the heat.

The situation is further complicated for many Muslim residents as they cannot eat or drink during the daylight hours because of Ramadan.

Meterologists say a sea breeze will likely move into the region through the night bringing cooler temperatures.  A monsoon rain could also reach the city and bring relief.

The city’s electrical grid continues to fail as residents overwhelm the system with air conditioners and fans.

Heat Wave Kills 224 in Karachi

A record-shattering heat wave in Pakistan has left at least 224 people dead.

Officials in Karachi, the country’s largest city with 20 million residents, say that 224 people have been confirmed dead from heat related causes.  Hundreds more are being treated for heat stroke or other heat related illnesses.

“Hospitals across the city are overcrowded due to record numbers of patients suffering from heat stroke,” Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar, the health minister for Sindh province, said. “The numbers are unprecedented but the situation is under control.”

Temperatures in the city on Saturday reached close to 113 degrees fahrenheit, the highest recorded temperature in the country in 15 years.  Sunday’s high was around 108.5 fahrenheit.  The city’s all time record is 117 degrees fahrenheit set in 1979.

Local media reported that 150 bodies were taken to the Edhi morgue in Sohrab Goth.  The morgue usually receives 20 bodies a day.

Many of the country’s residents are Muslim, meaning they are observing Ramadan and not partaking of food and water during the daylight hours.  The city is also dealing with frequent power outages that cut off air conditioning and fans.

The heat wave comes after a wave last month in India left over 2,000 people dead.

Pakistan Islamic Clerics Fight To Keep Blasphemy Laws

Islamic clerics in Pakistan are complaining to government officials who are considering changes to the nation’s blasphemy laws.

A group of Muslims gathered at an event they called a “seminar for protection of the prophet’s dignity” and are calling for the legislators to stop adding the word “intention” to the law that many Muslims use to bully Christians.

“The new bill rejects all sayings by the ‘holy prophet,'” former Pakistani justice Mian Nazir Akhtar stated. “When it comes to the sanctity of the prophet, the implementation of all man-made laws become different. Those who insult him have no rights, including no right to live. There is no need for trial or hearings.”

Many Christians have been accused of blasphemy by Muslims in Pakistan for various reason including a desire by the Muslims to seize their property to punish them for their Christian faith.  Muslim mobs routinely attack Christians accused of blasphemy and kill them without any court trial.

Currently 40 people sit on Pakistan’s death row on accusations of blasphemy including Asia Bibi, jailed because she drank water from a well that Muslim women wanted to use.

“The blasphemy law on its face flatly violates both freedom of religion and freedom of expression. Worse still, Pakistan vigorously applies this law,”  Katrina Lantos Swett, the chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said. “Moreover, the weight of this law falls disproportionately on members of religious minority communities, such as Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, and Ahmadis.

“In addition, enforcement of such laws emboldens religious extremist groups and their sympathizers to assault these minorities — as seen most recently when terrorists slaughtered Ismaili Muslims on a bus,” she continued. “And finally, Pakistan’s zealous enforcement of these laws is in contrast to the pronounced lack of zeal bringing to justice those responsible for such attacks.”

Some Muslim leaders have threatened a fatwa against those supporting the change to the law.

Pakistani Businessman Building 140 Foot High Cross

A Pakistani businessman is taking a bold, dangerous stance for Christ by building a 140-foot tall cross in Karachi.

Parvez Henry Gill wants to encourage his fellow Christians not to flee the country in the wake of intense persecution at the hands of Muslims.

Gill, a native of Karachi, describes himself as a property developer and owner of farmland.  He said that God came to him in a dream and told him to do “something good” for the people.

“I said, ‘I am going to build a big cross, higher than any in the world, in a Muslim country,’ ” said Gill, 58. “It will be a symbol of God, and everybody who sees this will be worry-free.”

Gill believes the cross carries a message to the Christians of his city.

“God will protect you. Stay in your country. Don’t be afraid,” the businessman said, according to CBS.

While many religious leaders in Pakistan believe the cross will be seen as a way to encourage interfaith cooperation, former Pakistani ambassador to the U.K. Akbar Ahmed said some radicals will see the cross as a provocation.

“They will say this a challenge to Islam and that it can only be met by destruction,” Ahmed told HuffPost. “It’s a smaller group, but it’s the smaller groups that can inflict a lot of damage.”

While the cross is not the biggest in the world as the Great Cross in St. Augustine, Florida is 208 feet tall, it is still the biggest in a Muslim dominated country.

Health of Wrongfully Imprisoned Asia Bibi Failing

The health of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman wrongfully imprisoned in Pakistan on false charges of blasphemy, is quickly fading according to family members.

Bibi is having trouble walking and had been throwing up blood.

“When vomiting there is also shown traces of blood. Asia has difficulty feeding properly, while constant pain in the chest,” The Global Dispatch quoted the unnamed family source as saying. “Therefore it is necessary that Asia Bibi be submitted as soon as possible [for] a full medical checkup, including blood work.”

Bibi has been jailed after a group of Muslim women made false accusations of blasphemy after the Christian woman drank water from the same water supply.

Wilson Chowdhry of the British Pakistani Christian Foundation says that Bibi has been forced to cook her own food in a “dingy” cell for the last five years after attempts to poison her.

“Asia Bibi has been facing rapidly declining health for some time and we call on Christians to uphold her in their regular prayers,” Chowdhry said in a statement. “Asia continues to believe that God will release her from her captivity, however, the Supreme Court hearing date is proving hard to achieve. Many believe the delay is instigated by Pakistani authorities in an attempt to subvert justice through her early demise.”

The family’s visit was the first in months because Bibi’s family has been on the run due to death threats from Muslims.