Members of the European Parliament have written to the EU’s ambassador of Pakistan calling for his help to release Shahzad Masih. The MEPs called for Masih’s immediate release and compensation on account of undue harassment and detention. They wrote to Zaheer Aslam Janjus seeking intervention the blasphemy case. The letter was endorsed by Jan Figel,…
The Ministry of Religious Affairs has opposed restrictions on religious conversion before the age of 18. It said that if someone 14 years old wants to convert to any religion, they could not be stopped. During a meeting of the Senate parliamentary committee on minorities’ rights the Minister for Religious Affairs, Noorul Haq Qadri said…
A Christian student of third grade, Suzaina (spellings shared by her mother) was raped at her school in Asif Town No.1 Lahore. Her father Shahzad Mukhtar, who works as a ward boy in the general hospital, Lahore, said on June 22 his daughter went to the SunJan Nagar School, Basic Education Trust, as usual, but…
On 1 July, the Lahore High Court handed a 13-year-old child back to the man who abducted her. Nayab Gill was abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married to Saddam Hussain, an older man who already has three wives. Nayab’s case was heard by Justice Sheram Sarwar Chowdhury in the Lahore High Court today. She…
A Muslim doctor forcefully converted a 13-year-old Christian girl to Islam to allow her to work in their family kitchen in Pakistan. It is one of many continuing cases involving the persecution of individuals and families who are part of minority religions outside of the country’s predominant Islamic faith. CLAAS-UK, an interdenominational organisation working with…
A Christian couple who spent seven years in jail on blasphemy charges have been acquitted by a Pakistani court. Shafqat Emmanuel and his wife Shagufta Masih were cleared of the charges after a hearing in Lahore, their lawyer said. The pair were convicted and sentenced to death in April 2014. They were accused of sending…
On May 31 a Pakistani court sent a 13-year-old Christian girl, Nayab Gill with her abductor, Saddam Hussain, who already has three wives. Nayab, a student of 9th grade was working at a beauty salon during the closure of her school in Pakistan, due to the pandemic. She hoped to learn new skills and support…
A Christian mother of five children, Venus Bibi, 30, of Sahoo Ki Malian (village), Sheikhupura, was recently freed from her kidnapper after a police complaint was registered against the abductor. Venus and her husband are both brick kiln workers. According to her husband, Warris Masih, on April 1, 2021 Venus Bibi went out for household…
A Christian mother fears that if her kidnapped daughter is not recovered immediately, her abductor will sell her. Hamida Bibi, 70, said it has been more than a month since they complained to the police about their daughter, Kiran’s, kidnapping, but there is no news about her. The police arrested Kabir and his companions Bilal,…
The European Union has raised concern about Pakistan’s blasphemy laws which it says are often misused to discriminate against religious minorities. On Thursday the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on authorities to review Pakistan’s GSP (Generalised Scheme of Preferences) plus status. It also called for the country to make space for religious freedom. Pakistan’s…
