ASIA/PAKISTAN -Argument over religion: Muslim kills Christian in cold blood
ICC Note: A Pakistani Christian, Roshan Masih, was shot dead in Lahore on Feb. 16 after getting into an argument with a Muslim over religion, Agenzia Fides reports. Roshan was a convert to Christianity from Hinduism and many suspect he was murdered because his defense of Christianity may have been considered “blasphemous” toward Islam. “This is truly a tragedy. An innocent man is slain for defending his faith in a simple argument. The episode is emblematic of the conditions of Pakistani Christians,” said Sardar Mushtaq Gill, director of the Legal Evangelical Association Development (LEAD).
2/202/2013 Pakistan (FIDES) -Roshan Masih, a 45 year old Christian, was shot dead after an argument over religion in Lahore, capital of Punjab Province. Fides learned that the episode, on 16 February, brought bewilderment and grief ito the local Christian community : it was an act of murder in cold blood: Roshan’s defence of his Christian beliefs compared to Muslim beliefs, may have been considered ‘blasphemous’. Roshan Masih had converted from Hinduism to Christianity and about 20 ago settled in Lahore. Days before the murder he had a heated argument over religion with a local Muslim, Sohail Akhtar. The latter waited for his opportunity, and, on 16 February, seeing Roshan sitting outside a shop run by Sadiq Masih, another Christian, Sohail Akhtar, armed with a rifle, shot him dead there and then.
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“This is truly a tragedy: an innocent man is slain for defending his faith in a simple argument. The episode is emblematic of the conditions of Pakistani Christians. The authorities have a duty to guarantee the basic rights of Christian minorities.”
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