Pakistani Christians hold Sunday services at churches burnt by mob
Lahore, Pakistan Reuters Pakistani Christians held services on Sunday at churches that were vandalised and torched by a vigilante mob last week after two Christian brothers were accused of desecrating the Quran. Members of the Christian community chant slogans as they gather to condemn the attacks on churches and houses in Jaranwala town of Faisalabad, […]
Essay: Christians in Pakistan risk greater persecution from blasphemy laws, while living in poverty
Scholar of world religions, MYRIAM RENAUD, says – in an article first piublished on The Conversation – since the creation of the nation of Pakistan 76 years ago, the lives of Christians there have grown “ever more difficult”…
Nigeria’s sharia blasphemy law not unconstitutional, court rules
Lagos, NigeriaReuters A Nigerian court on Wednesday ruled that Islamic religious law does not violate the constitution, dismissing a test-case challenge from a singer who was sentenced to death two years ago on the charge of blasphemy. But in a majority decision, the court in northern Kano state also upheld a lower court’s call for […]
UN experts to Pakistan: Release man charged with blasphemy
Islamabad, PakistanAP United Nations human rights experts urged Pakistan on Thursday to release a Christian man who was detained two years ago for insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad and is believed to be mentally ill. Stephen Masih, who was arrested in March, 2019, has yet to face trial, the experts said. He is a Pakistani jailed […]
Pakistan decries EU parliament’s move on blasphemy laws
Islamabad, PakistanAP Pakistan has decried a move by the European Parliament, which last Thursday adopted a resolution demanding Islamabad allow freedom for religious minorities and asked the EU to reconsider the South Asian country’s preferential trade status. The European Parliament appealed on Islamabad to free a Christian couple – Shagufta Kausar and her husband Shafqat […]
Pakistan to outlaw violent Islamist group that rails on blasphemy
Islamabad, PakistanReuters Pakistan is to outlaw a hardline Islamist group that railed against blasphemy to rise to prominence, the interior minister said on Wednesday, the third day of violent protests that killed two police officers and wounded 340. The government said it has also arrested 1,400 workers of the group, that is agitating against the […]
Pakistani Christian couple’s appeal of blasphemy sentence postponed
Lahore, PakistanAP A Pakistani court on Wednesday adjourned without hearing a much-awaited appeal from a Christian couple facing the death penalty for the last seven years after being convicted of blasphemy, a defence lawyer said. Lawyer Saiful Malook said the couple’s appeal wasn’t heard before the court’s session ended. He is seeking the release and […]
Pakistan police seek arrest of two Christians over blasphemy
Police in Pakistan said on Wednesday that they were seeking arrest of two Christian men in the eastern city of Lahore on charges they allegedly used insulting remarks against Islam’s holy book and its Prophet Muhammad. The case against the two men was registered last Saturday following the complaint of a Muslim local resident Haroon […]
Two Christian evangelists charged with blasphemy in Pakistan – reports
Two Christian evangelists have been charged with blasphemy in Pakistan, according to reports. The charges reportedly related to a encounter in Model Town Park in Lahore last week between evangelists Haroon Ayub Masih and Salamat Mansha Masih and Muslim man, Haroon Ahmad, and several of his friends in which an argument broke out which ended with Ahmad […]
Essay: Nigeria’s blasphemy laws are the religious freedom crisis no one is talking about
Rev FREDERICK A DAVIE and Rev TONY PERKINS, of the US Commission for International Religious Freedom, says Nigeria’s blasphemy laws “cannot stand” if the country’s commitment to religious freedom is to be realised…