ICC Note:

Following a Christian being accused of blasphemy in Punjab, Pakistan, local Muslims have threatened Christian villagers to hand over the accused Christians or be forced from the village. According to ICC’s sources, Christian villagers now face a social boycott in which they are not allowed to purchase food, collect water, or move freely without threat from their Muslim neighbors. Christian leaders have condemned these actions and have demanded the government step in a take control of the situation. 

5/19/2016 Pakistan (Christian Times) – Director Nasir Saeed of the Center for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) UK argues that local Muslims have no right to impose conditions upon Pakistani Christians forcing them to leave their village, convert to Islam, or hand over an escaped Christian boy accused of blasphemy. Saeed has condemned these acts, which CLAAS describes as “ferocious” and “tyrannical.”

“No one has any right to take the law into their own hands, harass local Christians, threaten them, burn Imran alive or force Christians to convert to Islam or leave the village,” Saeed said in a statement. “I cannot believe that such things are still happening in this world.”

He urged the Pakistani government to deal with this matter seriously and according to the law and to provide protection to the local Christians. He emphasized that the conditions imposed by the local Muslims only make a mockery of the law.

“Such treatment towards Pakistani Christians is a slap on the face of the Punjab and central government, and to all those who never tire of telling the world that minorities are protected and enjoying equal rights in the country,” Saeed stated.

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