On September 5, 2018, a young Christian man, Faraz Badar, was sprayed with acid in Gujranwala. He passed away in the hospital from the injuries on September 15.
On September 21, 2018, a group of Muslims beat Bashir Masih and his family in Gujar Khan and set their van and the roof of their house on fire because they did not like having Christians in their neighborhood.
On September 28, 2018, Yaqoob Bashir, a mentally disabled Christian man, was sentenced to life in prison by the Session Court of Mirpurkhas in Sindh for allegedly committing blasphemy.
On October 22, 2018, Sharjeel Masih, a Christian student in grade four was humiliated at Government Boys Primary School in Attock when the school’s headmaster reprimanded him for drinking water from the same water tab that the Muslim students used.
On October 31, 2018, the Supreme Court of Pakistan finally acquitted Asia Bibi after she was found innocent of blasphemy allegations leveled against her in June 2009. She was on death row for nearly a decade. Muslim radicals rallied against this decision and brought the whole country to a near standstill for three days.
On November 7, 2018, Ishrat Saba, a female Christian teacher, was sexually harassed by her Muslim headmaster at Government Elementary Middle School in Phool Nagar located in the Kasur District. She was then threatened by a group of Muslims when she made a complaint to the authorities.
On December 13, 2018, two Christian brothers, Qaisar Ayub and Amoon Ayub, were sentenced to death by the District Court in Jehlum. They were originally imprisoned in 2015 for allegedly committing blasphemy.
On December 30, 2018, a group of people attempted to steal land from a church property named “Gosha e Aman” (Peace Center) by building a boundary wall on their property in Lahore. The church managed to reclaim their land the next day.
Throughout the reporting period, local newspapers posted discriminatory content and advertisements. Advertisements for sanitary worker job vacancies emphasized that the jobs were for non-Muslims only, perpetuating a discriminatory narrative that claims that Christians must be relegated to menial, often dangerous, positions near servitude. Government departments also continued to recruit only non-Muslims as street sweepers according to policy.
As seen in the incidents above, Pakistani Christians are suffering at home, church, school, and the workplace. Even children are not immune from the reality of discrimination and physical violence. These are only some of the stories suffered by Christians throughout Pakistan. The government and authorities in Pakistan must take steps to revise the laws and social standards that permit the persecution of Christians.
For interviews, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org