A church chief in Pakistan is pleading with world leaders to take motion after a Christian man died of his accidents 10 days after he was attacked by a mob over alleged blasphemy.
Seventy-year-old Nazir Gill Masih was attacked at Mujahid Colony in Sargodha on Could 25 by a mob who accused him of blasphemy.
Assist to the Church in Want (ACN) stated the allegations in opposition to Masih had been “doubtful” and that non secular minorities in Pakistan “have been more and more threatened by the obvious abuse of the nation's infamous blasphemy legal guidelines”.
A Catholic bishop instructed ACN that until the legislation is modified to make false accusations of blasphemy against the law, Christians and different minorities won’t ever really feel protected in Pakistan.
Bishop Samson Shukardin, chairman of the Catholic Bishops' Convention of Pakistan, stated many Christians are illiterate and due to this fact unlikely to commit blasphemy deliberately.
He urged the authorities to take motion to cease false accusations and violent mobs terrorizing victims, their households and neighbours.
“It is vitally vital that laws is launched to make sure that these discovered to have falsely accused individuals of blasphemy are sentenced to jail phrases,” he stated.
Blasphemy in Pakistan carries a most penalty of life imprisonment or the demise penalty, however Christian and different human rights teams have warned that the legal guidelines are sometimes damaged.
Demise sentences for blasphemy have historically been overturned by the courts, however the appeals course of usually takes years, forcing the accused to stay behind bars. Even after launch, they’re vulnerable to being attacked and even killed by an extremist.
Bishop Shukardin stated the authorities' failure to adequately tackle final yr's violence in opposition to Christians in Punjab's Jaranwala district, which was fueled by blasphemy, inspired the weaponization of blasphemy legal guidelines in opposition to harmless minorities.
“Till the federal government is severe and enacts legal guidelines to guard minorities, particularly Christians who’re the key minority in Punjab, the abuse of blasphemy legal guidelines will solely worsen,” he stated.
“We’re not asking for something that’s in opposition to the nation of Pakistan. We’re solely asking for the safety of our lives and the lives of our households.”
He stated international strain was the one approach to power Pakistan to behave and finish the “alarming” rise in persecution of Christians and different minorities in Pakistan.
“Basically, if you see what number of incidents have occurred, you begin to understand that these incidents are growing daily,” he stated.
Nasir Saeed, director of CLAAS-UK, which gives free authorized help to Pakistani Christians dealing with false accusations of blasphemy, stated he was “deeply saddened” by Masih's demise.
“This barbaric act highlights the intense penalties of misuse of blasphemy legal guidelines in our nation and serves as a stark reminder of the pressing must reform Pakistan's blasphemy legal guidelines,” he stated.
“As a human rights activist, I’m deeply saddened by this mindless lack of life and the violence that preceded it.
“The federal government of Pakistan should take rapid and decisive motion to forestall such tragedies sooner or later.”
He added: “Nazir Masih's demise is a tragedy that ought to by no means have occurred. It’s now the duty of the Pakistani authorities, with the help of the worldwide neighborhood, to make sure that his demise will not be in useless.”
