Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi has been moved to isolation over fears of vigilante attacks following the decision to uphold Mumtaz Qadri’s death sentence. Bibi, who has been on death row for blasphemy since 2010, was moved into solitary confinement after prison officials at the women’s prison in the city of Multan became concerned about her…
The Church Leadership along with members of other Religious Minority communities in Punjab have demanded that they be allowed to elect their own representatives. They unanimously demanded the immediate repeal of the Punjab Local Government (Amended) Ordinance 2015, as it does not allow them to elect their own representatives at the lowest tier of democratic…
The Supreme Court had upheld the death sentence given to a Muslim police guard for killing the former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer. Malik Mumtaz Qadri killed the governor on January 4, 2011 outside his home, but after hearing legal arguments, the court dismissed his appeal. During hearing, Qadri’s counsel requested that he be given a…
Hundreds of Muslims gathered to kill a Pakistani Christian family after they were accused of blasphemy. But Aftab Masih, 42, his wife, and five children were saved from the perilous position when local Muslim clerics calmed the gathered crowd in Railway Colony, Wazirabad, and called the police. Masih was accused of blasphemy after arguing with…
Christian headteacher, Siddique Azam, who recently started working in a primary school in a village called Pernawa, district Kasur, was beaten and humiliated for being Christian. On October 5 some Muslim colleagues taunted and tortured Siddique, and attacked him in his office. They asked him to resign from his post, telling him that if he…
Pakistani Christians have condemned a job advertisement published on September 16, 2015 by the Punjab Institute of Cardiology. It said that only non-Muslim males and females will be appointed as sanitary workers (sweepers), whereas the jobs of security guard, maids or ward boy did not indicate any religious specification. CLAAS believes that such adverts are…
The UN Summit of International Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief was held in New York from September 17 to 19, 2015, to approve Action Letters and to pass resolutions to uphold religious freedom in member countries. Lawmakers from 50 countries, including the UK and Pakistan, gathered in New York to discuss ways to…
The number of human rights violations in Pakistan is on the rose, the country’s standing committee on human rights has been told. According to reports, the Human Rights Wing of Ministry of Law Justice and Human Rights recorded 20, 649 violations in from 2012 to June 2015. 4,848 cases were reported in 2012, 4,907 in…
A Pakistani Christian man has been arrested on blasphemy charges, accused of making derogatory remarks about Prophet Mohammed. Pervaiz Masih, 40, a resident of Garrewala village of Kasur district, Punjab, was arrested on September 2nd. The brick kiln worker’s Muslim contractor accused him of committing blasphemy, after Pervaiz demanded the agreed payment from him. The…
Two men suspected of being part of the mob that burnt Pakistani Christians Shazad and his wife Shama alive in a brick kiln have been denied bail. According to reports, on Friday the Supreme Court in Lahore dismissed Nisar and Akram’s bail petitions. Their lawyers had argued that both men had passed the scene and…
