On June 3, Nazir Gill Masih, a 72-year-old Christian, succumbed to his injuries. A resident of Sargodha, a town in Punjab province, he had been beaten by a mob falsely accusing him of blasphemy 10 days earlier. (Cover photo : On May 25, Archbishop Joseph Arshad and Christian Senator Tahir Khalil Sindu visited the police headquarters in Sargodha, following the antichristian attack).
The Bishop of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, Mgr Arshad, has expressed his deep condolences for the death of Nazir Masih, who died in his diocese as a result of injuries he suffered on May 25, falsely accused of blasphemy. In a statement received by Aid to the Church in Need on June 3, Archbishop Arshad said that “in recent years, the Christian community, along with other minorities in Pakistan, has continued to be constantly targeted, whether on the basis of religion, personal enmity or baseless allegations.”
Bishop Samson Shukardin (photo), President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, said in an interview with ACN that, unless laws are passed making it an offence to fabricate allegations of blasphemy, Christians and other beleaguered minorities will never feel safe in their own country. Bishop Shukardin said such incidents would only increase unless the Pakistan authorities clamp down on people falsifying accusations and stop mobs from taking matters into their own hands by terrorizing victims, their families and neighbours.
In an interview with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which supports persecuted and other Christians, Bishop Shukardin said: “It is very important that legislation is introduced whereby those found to have wrongly accused people of blasphemy are given sentences including jail terms.”
The bishop stressed that, as illiteracy is commonplace among Christians, most are unlikely to commit intentional blasphemy in accordance with 295B of the Penal Code which carries life imprisonment for desecration of the Qur’an. The bishop, who is chairman of the Catholic or National Commission for Justice and Peace, the Church’s advocacy arm, accused the Pakistan authorities of failing to bring justice for the victims of last August’s wave of violence against Christians in the Punjab’s Jaranwala District, an incident also triggered by a spurious blasphemy allegation.
To see the footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb-asN5hGCA
Pressure has to come from abroad
Bishop Shukardin warned that this and other examples of alleged government inaction has only emboldened more people to weaponize the controversial laws against innocent minorities. He said to ACN: “Nothing has happened to bring justice following the Jaranwala incident. This is a disaster. It is not good for the minorities. Until the government is serious and makes laws to protect the minorities, especially the Christians who are the major minority in Punjab, the situation regarding misuse of blasphemy legislation will only get worse. We are not asking for anything that is against the country of Pakistan. We are simply asking for the protection of our lives and the lives of our families.”
He added: “We need to bring justice and safety for our minorities and indeed all those who are treated badly because of their religion or anything that is not in accordance with human dignity.” Saying that only foreign pressure would force Pakistan to act, he stated: “It needs pressure to come from abroad—government to government.”
The situation is getting worse
The bishop said to ACN: “Persecution is getting worse. You get the major incidents such as what happened in Jaranwala in August and what happened towards the end of May in Sargodha but there are so many other more minor incidents taking place. It is an alarming situation. Generally, when you see how many incidents have taken place, you begin to realize that these incidents are increasing day by day.”
The bishop stressed that only a minority of Muslims in Pakistan were antagonistic to minorities, adding that the volume of YouTube and television statements condemning the May 25–26 anti-Christian attacks in Sargodha was unprecedented.
