On 9 April, in-charge nurse, Maryam Lal and 3rd-year student nurse Navish Arooj working in Civil Hospital, Faisalabad, were charged with committing blasphemy. A first information report (FIR) under blasphemy law section 295-B, has been registered against Maryam and Navish after a complaint from Dr Mirza Muhammad Ali. In his written complaint he said while…
Samina Bibi, the mother of Christian girl Shakina Johnson, has complained that the police are not making enough effort to recover her kidnapped daughter. Samina is understandably upset, and every passing day is devastating for the family. The well-being of Shakina is unknown. Samina said that her daughter went missing on 19 February 2021 and…
On Wednesday 31 March, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) demolished Emmanuel Gospel church in Musharraf colony, sector G8/4 Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. The settlement consists of about 300-400 houses and all families are Christian and poor. The Pastor in charge, Rev Naveed John George said that at about 8:45 (Pakistani time) a CDA team…
The Islamabad high court has directed the Pakistani government to fill the vacant post of the head of the NCHR. It comes after the government was accused of deliberately obstructing appointments of the new commission members and chairperson for nearly two years, to prevent accountability for mounting abuses. Reports suggest the two years in which…
Pakistan’s attorney general and provincial advocate general have been issued notices by the Peshawar High Court regarding a petition calling for the removal of all punishments except the death penalty for blasphemy from the country’s penal code. The notices were issued because the bench said the matters raised in the petition needed serious consideration. The…
A Christian man sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of sending a blasphemous text message in 2011 has had his sentence changed to the death penalty. The Lahore High Court ruled in favour of an appeal submitted by Islamist group Khatam-e-Nabuwwat Forum (KNF, or Movement for the Finality of the Prophethood). Sajjad Masih’s appeal…
Pakistani police arrested the pastor and congregation of the New life Church in Mohallah Sialkoti, Lahore, during lent worship. The arrest was made after a complaint to the local police by the Muslim residents of Mohallah Sialkoti. According to Pastor Amjad and Elder Yousaf Lal, local Muslims in the neighbourhood have been regularly threatening them…
A Christian man who was convicted of committing blasphemy in 2018 has been granted bail by the court. Nabeel Masih was accused of blasphemy after sharing a picture of Kaaba in Mecca on Facebook. He was arrested in 2016, when he was just 16 years old, and convicted two years later. Masih has now been…
A Christian farmer, Azam Masih and his family living in the village of Tapa Chakrao, District Sanghar, Province Sindh, have been attacked and injured by an influential Muslim land grabber. On February 26, 2021, Azam was at work when suddenly a Muslim mob of 25-30 from the Bugti tribe reached his residence asked his family…
Reports of an inmate in Abbottabad Central Jail allegedly desecrating the Holy Quran resulted in protests breaking out in the area. The inmate, Imran, is said to have desecrated three copies of the religious text on Saturday. The staff at Central Jail Malikpura immediately entered the prison cell and collected the copies, furious at what…
