Church in Pakistan pleads for Christian sentenced to death for blasphemy

By Lisa Zengarini

The Catholic Bishops of Pakistan have joined the Christian community's outcry against a recent Punjabi court death sentence condemning a young Christian for blasphemy in connection with an anti-Christian riot in Punjab last year, saying it is an abuse of law again targeting religious minorities.

On June 29 Mr. Ahsan Raja Masih, a 22-year-old a brick kiln worker, was found guilty  by the  Sahiwal Anti-Terrorism Court under several articles of the Pakistan Penal Code for allegedly sharing an image of a damaged Quran on social media , thus “offending the sentiments of Muslims and trying to promote religious hatred.”

The anti-Christian riot in  Jaranwala

The post triggered the anti-Christian riot in province's Jaranwala city on August 16, 2023 in which more than 25 churches and over 80 Christian homes were vandalized and many Bibles burned.

Blasphemy has been a capital crime in Pakistan since 1981, though no one has been executed by the government so far. However, in several cases, mobs take the matter into their own hands and lynch the suspects, and the legislation is often misused for false accusations against Christians and other religious minorities to settle personal scores.

Verdict contested by the Church

The death sentence has spurred widespread protests on social media and a strong condemnation from Christian leaders in Pakistan.

"We condemn this in strongest terms,” said Bishop Joseph Arshad of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, chairperson of the Commission for Justice and Peace of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference (NCJP). “This is the abuse of law, a travesty of justice,” Bishop Indrias Rehmat of Faisalabad told UCA News.

Anglican Bishop Nadeem Kamran of Lahore said, “Such condemnations reflect the frustration of Christians,” constituting about 1.6 percent of Pakistan's 241 million people.

Appeal to international community

In an interview to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, said that the Sahiwal Anti-Terrorism Court decision is “very, very painful for us and many people are disappointed.” Bishop Samson Shukardin called on the international community to appeal for justice: “The big international NGOs and human rights organisations should come out and say something opposing this decision. This will make a big impact on the government,” he remarked.

Father Khalid Rashid, NCJP director for Faisalabad Diocese, also condemned the judgement highlighting that that the image was shared by thousands of  people, “Mr Ahsan  is being singled out. He is being targeted,“ he lamented , also noting that he is not well educated and comes from a very poor family.  Father Rashid said the court came under pressure to issue a guilty verdict.

Loopholes in the probe

Mr Ahsan’s  lawyer, Khurram Shahzad,  told UCA News agency that there are many loopholes in the in the investigation on the case. “This is another case of persecution of a poor family from the minority community,” he said.

The controversial sentence comes amid increasing attacks against Christians and other minorities in Pakistan, who are often targeted by false blasphemy accusations.

Increasing attacks against Christians and other minorities

In May this year, an elderly Christian, Nazir Masih, was attacked in Sargodha in Punjab province after he was accused of blasphemy for allegedly burning pages of the Quran. He died of his injuries on June 3. Since then many Christians from Sargodha have fled the city. Also last month, two Ahmadis, a persecuted Muslim minority in Pakistan were killed in the Punjab’s Mandi Bahauddin district, allegedly by members of the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan, or TLP far-right religious political group linked to the violence in Jaranwala and Sargodha.

Bishop Shukardin lamented that “Minorities are suffering more and more and are scare  to speak up in public.” He said that Muslims are also accused of blasphemy but what makes such allegations so much worse for Christians is that when claims are made against them it is not just individuals who are targeted but their families and entire communities.

No convictions for Sargodha and Jaranwala violence

The bishop also stressed that, contrary to the case brought against Mr. Ahsan, there have been no convictions against those involved in the attacks against Christians in Sargodha and Jaranwala: “One of our Christians is given a death sentence which is unjust and yet nothing has happened to those others accused of crimes against the churches and the Christian houses. Instead, these people are slowly being released,” he said

Advocate Akmal Bhatti, chairman of the Minorities’ Alliance, has reportedly stated that barely a dozen of the 135 people summoned by authorities in connection with the Jaranwala violence are facing trials.