International community urged to act after death of Christian in Pakistan

A church leader in Pakistan is pleading with world leaders to take motion after a Christian man died of his injuries 10 days after being attacked by a mob over alleged blasphemy. 

Nazir Gill Masih, who was in his seventies, was attacked on 25 May in Mujahid Colony, Sargodha, by a mob accusing him of blasphemy. 

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) said the allegations against Masih were “dubious” and that religious minorities in Pakistan were “under increasing threat from flagrant misuse of the country’s notorious blasphemy laws”.

A Catholic bishop told ACN that unless the law is modified to make false blasphemy accusations an offence, Christians and other minorities won’t ever feel protected in Pakistan.  

Bishop Samson Shukardin, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, said that many Christians are illiterate and would due to this fact be unlikely to intentionally commit blasphemy. 

He urged the authorities must take motion to stop false accusations and violent mobs from terrorising victims, their families and neighbours.

“It may be very necessary that laws is introduced whereby those found to have wrongly accused people of blasphemy are given sentences including jail terms,” he said. 

Blasphemy in Pakistan carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment or the death sentence, but Christian and other human rights groups have warned that the laws are continuously abused.

Death sentences for blasphemy have traditionally been overturned by the courts however the appeals process often lasts years, by which time the accused is forced to stay behind bars. Even after being released, they risk being attacked and even killed by extremists.

Bishop Shukardin said that the failure of the authorities to deal adequately with blasphemy-related violence against Christians within the Punjab’s Jaranwala district last 12 months had emboldened the weaponisation of blasphemy laws against innocent minorities.

“Until the federal government is serous and makes laws to guard the minorities, especially the Christians who’re the foremost minority in Punjab, the situation regarding misuse of blasphemy laws will only worsen,” he said. 

“We will not be asking for anything that’s against the country of Pakistan. We are simply asking for the protection of our lives and the lives of our families.”

He said that foreign pressure was the one method to force Pakistan to act to finish the “alarming” increase in persecution against Christians and other minorities in Pakistan. 

“Generally, whenever you see what number of incidents have taken place, you start to understand that these incidents are increasing daily,” he said. 

Nasir Saeed, director of CLAAS-UK, which provides free legal assistance to Pakistani Christians facing false blasphemy accusations, said he was “deeply saddened” by Masih’s death.

“This barbaric act highlights the severe consequences of the misuse of blasphemy laws in our country and serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for reform in Pakistan’s blasphemy laws,” he said.

“As a human rights activist, I’m profoundly distressed by this senseless lack of life and the violence that preceded it.

“The Pakistani government must take immediate and decisive motion to forestall such tragedies in the long run.”

He added, “The death of Nazir Masih is a tragedy that ought to never have occurred. It is now the responsibility of the Pakistani government, with the support of the international community, to be certain that his death isn’t in vain.”