Police in Pakistan on Sunday arrested a Christian under blasphemy laws as a part of his siblings’ effort to retaliate against him over a property dispute, sources said.
The arrest got here the identical day a key government minister admitted on the ground of the National Assembly that the state has didn’t protect religious minorities in Pakistan against false blasphemy accusations.
Officers from the Okara A-Division Police Station arrested Chand Shamaun, 26, from his home in Christian Colony in Okara District, Punjab Province, in response to a dispute he had along with his siblings over his share of their ancestral house the previous night, said area Christian leader Younis Chauhan.
Chauhan said that he was present with other Christians when Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mehr Yousaf arrived with other officers.
“The police asked us if we knew anything a few Quran desecration incident within the colony,” Chauhan told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “When we told them that no such incident had occurred, DSP Yousaf told me to take them to Chand Shamaun’s house. On reaching the place, the police arrested Chand’s elder brother Zeeshan Shamaun, who was sleeping on the time.”
Chand Shamaun arrived and he was also taken into custody, he said.
Chauhan said that when area residents asked police why they were arresting the 2 brothers, Yousaf said they’d received information that Chand Shamaun had desecrated the Quran.
“We told the police that though the siblings often quarreled over their share in property, no blasphemy had been committed,” Chauhan said. “The DSP assured us that the brothers could be prosecuted under sections 147 and 151 of the Pakistan Penal Code for disturbing public peace, and so they could obtain bail from the court on Monday.”
A couple of hours later, nonetheless, they were surprised when eight to 10 police vehicles arrived and cordoned off the streets resulting in Chand Shamaun’s house, he said.
“It was then we got here to know that police had registered a First Information Report [FIR] against Chand under Section 295-A [of Pakistan’s blasphemy statutes] and Section 9 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997,” he said.
Section 295-A prescribes imprisonment of as much as 10 years for “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.” Section 9 of the ATA 1997 pertains to “acts intended or prone to fire up sectarian hatred” and is punishable with imprisonment of as much as seven years.
Chauhan said that several Christian families upon seeing the police deployment locked their homes and left the colony, fearing that the blasphemy allegation could provoke violent protests by Islamist groups.
“Fortunately, there have been no protests in the town, and residents have began returning to their homes,” he said.
Chand Shamaun works as an ambulance driver and has two minor children, he said. His brother Zeeshan was still in police custody at this writing. Their members of the family couldn’t be reached for comment.
Abraham Daniel, bishop of the Baptist Church in Sahiwal, criticized police for registering a false FIR against the Christian.
“The FIR registered on the criticism of a police Sub-Inspector Haider Ali states that he and five other policemen were standing outside the District Headquarters Hospital Okara when Chand Shamaun got here there and commenced shouting that he would burn the Quran due to his differences with Zeeshan and his sister Zunaira, who had converted to Islam a while ago,” Daniel told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.
According to Ali, when the police tried to arrest Chand Shamaun, he fled on foot to Christian Colony, he said.
“I think that the allegation brought against Chand relies on police mala fide,” Daniel said. “They turned a family dispute into a non secular incident when actually no blasphemy had been committed.”
He said he regretted that blasphemy laws were being blatantly misused against Christians in Pakistan.
“False blasphemy allegations and cases have turn into a norm here,” he said. “The situation has reached the purpose where entire neighborhoods are abandoned merely on the idea of accusation. The case against Chand is a explanation for concern since the complainant is just not a personal individual but a police officer who apparently concocted the incident.”
‘Minorities Unsafe’
Also on Sunday, Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said in an address to a special session of the National Assembly that he regretted surging incidents of mob violence against religious minorities in Pakistan.
“Minorities are being murdered each day,” Asif said. “No religious minority is secure in Pakistan. Even the smaller sects of the Muslims aren’t secure.”
The minister said treasury members desired to bring a resolution within the House in support of the religious minorities.
“Our Constitution provides protection to the minorities, but practically we’re seeing them being murdered in Swat, Sargodha and Faisalabad,” he said. “This is a matter of concern and embarrassment [for the nation].”
One June 20 a mob within the Madyan police station in Swat District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province lynched a Muslim resident of Sialkot. Police had detained Muhammad Suleman for alleged desecration of the Quran. The mob not only killed him but set his body on fire, together with the police station and an official vehicle.
On May 25, a frenzied Muslim mob, including women and youngsters beat a 74-year-old Christian, Nazeer Masih Gill, with stones and sticks after an area rival accused him of burning pages of the Quran. The mob also set fire to Gill’s shoe factory and house. He underwent two head surgeries but succumbed to his wounds nine days later, on June 3.
Blasphemy charges weren’t proven against any of those people, Asif told the House.
“We must ensure the protection of our minority brothers and sisters,” he said. “They have as much right to live on this country as the bulk. Pakistan belongs to all Pakistanis, no matter whether or not they are Muslim, Christian, Sikh, or of some other faith. Our Constitution guarantees full protection to minorities.”
Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar later read a resolution emphasizing that “the appropriate to life is probably the most cherished right enshrined within the Constitution of Pakistan.”
“This House takes serious notice of the recent mob lynching of our residents accused of offenses in Swat and Sargodha,” Tarar read. “It is noted that such incidents have recently increased in several parts of the country.”
The resolution further urged the federal and provincial governments “to make sure the protection and security of all residents, including religious minorities and other vulnerable segments of society.”
The National Assembly thus specifically called for “the provincial governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab to take immediate and needed measures to discover, investigate and prosecute those involved in these incidents under the relevant laws.”
“Furthermore, the House expressed the expectation that the courts would ensure immediate and speedy justice in these cases, underscoring the necessity for swift legal motion to stop future occurrences of such tragic events,” the resolution concluded.
Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of probably the most difficult places to be a Christian, because it was the previous 12 months.
