By William Stark

06/01/2017 Washington, D.C. (International Christian Concern) – On June 4, 2015, the life of a Christian family in Pakistan’s southern city of Mirpur Khas came to a screeching halt when one of them was accused of committing blasphemy against Islam. Yaqoob Bashir, then age 22, was beaten by a mob and then arrested by police, leaving his family broken and marked as the relatives of a blasphemer.

In Pakistan, blasphemy is a crime that can lead to life imprisonment and even execution. The country’s notorious blasphemy laws have been criticized by human rights organizations as being vague and widely abused by Pakistan’s Muslim majority. Often, false accusations of blasphemy are leveled by individuals seeking to settle personal scores or incite hatred against one of Pakistan’s small religious minority communities.

In Yaqoob’s case, the accusation against him alleged that he had burned pages of a booklet carrying Quranic verses. When police arrested Yaqoob they took him to Mehmoodabad Police Station where the blasphemy accusation was officially registered. On June 5, Yaqoob appeared before a lower court in Mirpur Khas and was remanded to police custody pending further investigation.

Prior to this incident, Yaqoob was declared mentally disabled and received treatment at a mental health facility in Hyderabad.

At the time of the incident, Yaqoob’s mother, Suraiya Bibi, said, “My son is innocent. He does not know the sensitivity of religious feelings or sacredness of the holy books. He did not burn the pages of the Islamic literature intentionally. It was just an accident due to the ash from his cigarette. He is mentally [disabled] and therefore should be forgiven.”

Despite Yaqoob’s mental disability, which was later confirmed by a panel of medical professionals, local authorities continue to pursue the blasphemy case against Yaqoob who remains imprisoned.

Like many other blasphemy cases, Yaqoob’s family also faced many hardships following the blasphemy accusation. The family, which is already poor, lost an earning hand when Yaqoob was taken to prison. Despite his mental disability, Yaqoob was able to help support his family by packing fruit bags in the market. Now, with Yaqoob in prison, only his brother, Ayub, was left to support the family as a day laborer.

This is the desperate situation in which International Christian Concern (ICC) found Yaqoob and his family. Initially, ICC provided Yaqoob’s family with a food package, providing them with food for an entire month to help stabilize the family’s daily needs. ICC also provided the family with funds to visit and purchase food and sanitary items for Yaqoob as he stayed in prison.

Following discussions with the family, it was decided that ICC would assist by helping Ayub start his own small business so that he could better provide for the family’s daily needs. Given Yaqoob and Ayub’s experience in the fruit market, ICC helped the family start their very own fruit and vegetable stand where they would be able to sell strawberries, melons, bananas, chekoos, mangos, and papayas.

“This support is wonderful,” Ayub told ICC. “I never thought of having my own business, however I am thankful to God and ICC for making this possible for me. For years, I have been working as a laborer in the fruit market. This is great blessing for me and my family which will bring 100 times the results for us.”

Despite this blessing, Yaqoob’s mother is still hoping for her son to return home. “Of course my son is most important for me,” Suraiya told ICC. “However, this small business is a wonderful effort by your team. My other son will take care of this business, but I pray and hope my son Yaqoob will come back home.”

As Ayub, Suraiya, and Yaqoob continue to struggle for both daily survival and for Yaqoob’s freedom, ICC calls on its supporters to keep this suffering family in their prayers. Specifically, Yaqoob’s family has asked for prayer for Yaqoob to be released from prison and cleared of all charges against him. Also, please keep the many other Christian families affected by Pakistan’s blasphemy laws in prayer as they similarly struggle on a daily basis.