Persecution of Christians in Pakistan

Persecution of Christians in Pakistan is endemic. The Islamic state is one where Christians suffer from institutionalized discrimination and are second-class citizens, usually permitted only to do the most menial and dirty jobs. Attacks on churches, murders, assaults, and rape are often reported. Mob violence against Christians is overlooked. Under Pakistani law, Christians may be arrested for crimes of "blasphemy," and if convicted face a possible death penalty.

Some people accused of blasphemy have been lynched by crowds. Lawyers, judges and those seeking to reform the blasphemy laws have also been threatened, attacked or even killed.

In the last 20 years, scores of Christians have been convicted for desecrating the Koran or for blasphemy. While most of them have been sentenced to death by the lower courts, many sentences have been overturned owing to lack of evidence.

Open Doors put Pakistan on the fifth place on its "World Watch List" on Christian persecution.

Violence by Muslims against Christians

• On August 9, 2002, gunmen threw grenades into a chapel on the grounds of the Taxila Christian Hospital. The hospital is located 15 miles west of Islamabad. The attack on the chapel killed 4 people including 2 nurses,a paramedic, and wounded 25 men and women.

• On September 25, 2002, Muslim gunmen shot 6 people dead at a Christian charity in Karachi's central business district. The gunmen went to the third floor offices of the Institute for Peace and Justice(IPJ) and tied their victims to chairs, before shooting them in the head.

• On December 25, 2002, several days after an Islamic cleric called on Muslims to kill Christians, 2 Muslim gunmen covered with burqas threw a grenade into a Presbyterian church during a Christian sermon in Chianwala. The attack killed 3 girls.

• In November 2005, 3,000 Islamists attacked Christians in Sangla Hill in Pakistan and destroyed Roman Catholic, Salvation Army, and United Presbyterian churches. The attack was over allegations of a violation of Pakistan's blasphemy laws by a Pakistani Christian names Yousuf Masih.

• On June 5, 2006, a Pakistani Christian stonemason by the name of Nasir Ashraf was working near Lahore when he drank water from a public facility using a glass chained to the facility. He was immediately attacked by Muslims for "polluting the glass". Soon after, a mob gathered and beat Ashraf, calling him a "Christian dog". Bystanders encouraged the beating, saying it was a "good" deed that would help the Muslim mob get into heaven. Ashraf suffered broken bones and had to be hospitalized.

• In August 2006, a church and Christian homes were attacked in a village outside of the city of Lahore in a land dispute. Three Christians were seriously injured and one reported missing after around 35 Muslims burned buildings, desecrated Bibles and attacked Christians.

• On July 10, 2008, a Muslim mob carrying swords, daggers and batons, attacked a Protestant Church during a prayer service. The church was located on the outskirts of Karachi. The pastor and several other Christians, including women and girls, were rushed to the hospital.

• In June 2009, International Christian Concern reported that a Christian man was raped and killed in Pakistan, for refusing to concert to Islam.

• The 2009 Gojra riots, was a series of violent pogroms against Christians in the city of Gojra in Pakistan by Muslims.

• In March 2011, Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian, was killed by Muslim gunmen after he spoke out against Pakistan's blasphemy laws.

• On April 29, 2011, 20 people were wounded when a mob of 500 Muslims attacked the Christian community in the city of Gujranwala in Pakistan.

• On September 23, 2012, a mob of Muslims in the city of Mardan, burnt down a church, a high school, a library, a computer laboratory, and the houses of 4 clergymen including Bishop peter Majeed. The mob also beat up the pastor's son, Zeeshan Chand.

• On October 12, 2012, Ryan Stanton, a young Christian man of the age of 16, had to go into hiding after being accused of blasphemy and after his home was ransacked by a crowd. Stanton had been framed because he refused to convert to Islam.

• In March 2013, a Muslim mob attacked a Christian neighborhood in Lahore, where over 100 houses were burned down after a Christian was alleged to have made blasphemous remarks.

Asia Bibi blasphemy case

Mrs. Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian, was arrested in 2010 on charges of blasphemy, and sentenced to death. She is still in prison. In 2015 a court gave her leave to appeal but when the appeal hearing opened in October 2016, the court in Islamabad was surrounded by a furious crowd shouting for her execution and threatening the judge if the death sentence was rescinded. Hundreds of riot police had to be deployed around the Supreme Court.

Mrs Bibi, a mother of five, did simple farm work in Itanwali, a village in Punjab where most of her co-workers were Muslim. There was a tap reserved only for Muslims, and a dispute arose about using it. The Muslim workers then accused Mrs Bibi of insulting the prophet Mohammed, a charge she denies.

Salmaan Taseer, governor of Punjab was killed by his own bodyguard in 2011 after speaking out for Asia Bibi. When the murderer was hanged, there were massive demonstrations in protest.

Judge Iqbal Hameed ur Rehman, one of three set to hear the appeal, recused himself from the case in 2016. In 2018, Mrs Bibi is still in prison and her family is in hiding. Her husband Ashiq Masih has said that even if she is released,there is no prospect of them returning to normal life anywhere in Pakistan.