Christians matter least in Pakistani politics

Pakistan elections (Getty)
As Pakistan prepares for elections later this month, the country’s minorities – particularly its Christians – have expressed dismay at their lack of representation among the candidates. Among the thousands of candidates contesting hundreds of provincial and national constituencies across the country, not a single Christian is nominated by any . . . Read More

‘Extremists given a free hand’ – Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

Pakistani Christians experience an increase in violence such as a suicide attack on the Bethel Methodist Church in Quetta in December last year that killed more than ten and injured dozens of people. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
Two Pakistani Christians were killed and at least three injured in a drive-by shooting on Sunday (15 April) in Essa Nagri, a Christian-majority area in Quetta, capital of the impoverished Balochistan province in the southwest. The victims, aged 19 and 28, had just left a church service when they were . . . Read More

Asia Bibi central to trade deals, EU tells Pakistan

Asia Bibi central to trade deals, EU tells Pakistan
The EU’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, Jan Figeľ, told Pakistani officials during a recent visit that the renewal of their export privileges to Europe depends on the release of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman on death row for blasphemy since 2010. “The EU countries have started . . . Read More

As China goes global, its Christian missionaries go too

A Chinese Christian holds a Bible standing outside the largest Chinese church in the world: the Three Self church which seats 5,000 people, in Hangzhou city. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
China’s drive to develop new trading routes to the West and beyond comes with an unintended and often overlooked by-product: Chinese Christian missionaries, who are putting the self-proclaimed atheistic country in a difficult spot, according to the BBC. The latest example is the story of two young Chinese who travelled . . . Read More

Pakistan expels South Korean for ‘illegal preaching’ after murder of Chinese ‘missionaries’

Pakistan expels South Korean for ‘illegal preaching’ after murder of Chinese ‘missionaries’
Pakistan has ordered a South Korean man to leave the country, accusing him of involvement in “illegal preaching activities”, after two of his students at an Urdu-language school were abducted and killed by the Islamic State group, which claimed they had been secretly preaching Christianity. “Investigations have revealed that [Juan . . . Read More

South Korea denies claims Chinese nationals killed in Pakistan were missionaries

South Korea denies claims Chinese nationals killed in Pakistan were missionaries
A South Korean official says there is “no evidence” that two Chinese nationals, whose abduction and murder in Pakistan has been claimed by the Islamic State group, had secretly travelled there to work – with a South Korean – as Christian missionaries. Pakistan’s interior ministry had claimed Lee Zingyang, 24, . . . Read More

Two Pakistani Christian families escape blasphemy accusations

Two Pakistani Christian families escape blasphemy accusations
Two blasphemy cases lodged against Pakistani Christians accused of desecrating Islamic scriptures have been dropped in the past week. The cases related to alleged offences under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws and were registered in separate incidents, hundreds of miles apart. In both cases Christians were initially suspected of the crime . . . Read More