Court documents show that Islamabad’s authorities have cracked down on illegal slums, fearing their growing Christian population will pose a threat to Pakistan’s Muslim majority. Human rights activists have criticised the move by the capital’s development body. In 2014 the Capital Development Authority declared a war against the slums, leaving hundreds homeless. The left-wing Awami…
CLAAS welcomes the recent statement issued by EP president Martin Schulz. He said: “I can assure you that Parliament will make its contribution wherever it can to protect Christians.” The close of the meeting which he organised with vice-president Antonio Tajani, focused on the persecution of Christians around the globe and specific proposals for tackling…
CLAAS has expressed its concern over Pakistan’s position in voting against the United Nations General Assembly resolution for recognising the role of human rights defenders and need for their protection in Pakistan. On 25 November 2015, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution on recognising the role of human rights defenders and the need…
Forcible religious conversions in Pakistan should be declared a crime, the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights said. The chairperson, Nasreen Jalil, also acknowledged that this is an issue particularly affecting minorities, and that the blasphemy law is being misused. During the meeting – held to consider suggestions to stop the misuse of the blasphemy…
A young Christian girl, Agnes Shaukat, daughter of Shaukat Masih of Lahore Cantt has been missing since November 20. Her family suspect her employer is involved, as according to a rickshaw driver the family hired on a monthly basis to take he to and from the boutique, he dropped her as usual in the morning,…
An Ahmadi place of worship was set on fire one after a Muslim mob burnt down a factory owned by members of the minority community, following one of its employees being accused of blasphemy. After reports surfaced that one of the factory workers had allegedly desecrated the Holy Quran, hundreds of people surrounded it and…
Pakistani schoolgirl Sara Bibi was beaten and locked in a bathroom for three hours after using a toilet designated for Muslims. The primary school student in Samundari near Faisalabad, in Punjab, was punished after her classmates allegedly alerted their headmistress to her actions. The designation of separate lavatories for minorities and Muslims in Pakistan is…
The Pakistani Supreme Court has said that calls for reform of the country’s blasphemy law are not an affront to religion. The statement was made in a written order to dismiss Mumtaz Qadri’s appeal against his death sentence. It also urged the state to ensure that people are not subjected to investigations or trials on…
Twenty Christians indicted in connection with Youhanabad lynching Twenty Pakistani Christian men have been indicted in connection with the lynching of two Muslims on the wake of the Youhanabad twin suicide bomb attacks on churches in March. An Anti-Terrorism Court indicted the 20 suspects after they were presented by the police, which is continuing to…
A Pakistani Christian woman was doused in petrol and set alight after she turned down a marriage proposal. Sonia Bibi, 20, suffered burns to 50% of her body in the attack at the hands of her former partner Latif Ahmed, when she declined to marry him. The incident took place in Multan and police have…
