Tag: Pakistan

Pakistani murder trial may move to military court

January 20, 2015 Pakistan Al-Qaeda, Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad, Shahbaz Bhatti

On Jan. 15, Pakistan’s police requested the high-profile murder trial of Minority Minister Shahbaz Bhatti be moved to a newly formed military court. Bhatti, a Christian, was shot dead in front of his Islamabad home in March 2011 for demanding reformation of Pakistan’s blasphemy law, an extremely sensitive topic in . . . Read More

Pakistan haunted by school massacre

December 17, 2014 Pakistan All Saints Church, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan, Peshawar, Taliban, Terrorism

The attack on a military school in Peshawar, claimed by the Pakistani Taliban as a response to an army offensive in the Khyber area and North Waziristan regions, is the deadliest in Pakistan’s recent memory. Its toll surpasses the September 2013 massacre in the same city at All Saints Anglican Church by . . . Read More

Three more cases in which Pakistani Christians accused of blasphemy

December 11, 2014 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Barelvi, Blasphemy, Kasur, Lahore, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan, Sharia

A brick kiln in Pakistan where 24 bonded-labourer Christian families narrowly escaped a mob attack in December 2014. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Three more cases of blasphemy accusations have emerged in Pakistan, even after a Christian couple’s beating to death and burning in a brick kiln after allegations of blasphemy horrified the world, including the metropolitan elite in the country. The Christian couple were killed over suspicions of desecrating the Qur’an on . . . Read More

Christmas service a ‘worry’ in Islamist nations

December 9, 2014 Christmas, Islamic extremism, Middle East, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan

The Evening Standard has published an opinion piece by author Rupert Shortt, in which he argues that Christmas this year will be a time of worry for many Christians in countries ‘from Morocco to Pakistan’ in which Christians cannot worship without harassment. He goes onto argue that religion is not . . . Read More

Asia Bibi lawyers make one last plea

November 26, 2014 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Lahore, Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad

Asia Bibi, the Christian woman on death row in Pakistan for blasphemy, has appealed to the only court in the country that can now save her. Bibi’s lawyer, Saiful Malook, filed the appeal to Pakistan’s Supreme Court on 24 November asking that it reconsiders deficiencies in her case. After a previous appearance . . . Read More

‘Freedom of Religion’: comprehensive report launch

November 4, 2014 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Central African Republic, China, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Libya, Maldives, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Qatar, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Zimbabwe

A report showing that religious freedom is compromised in nearly 60 percent of countries worldwide is expected to send a signal to governments and religious leaders that this is an issue that can no longer be ignored. The international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need’s Religious Freedom in . . . Read More

Understand concept of ‘infidel’ to understand risks of Islamic radicalization

October 21, 2014 Boko Haram, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Pakistan, Rwanda, Salafism

Iraqi Christian children driven out of their homes by IS. Photo taken at a refugee camp in Erbil on September 16.World Watch Monitor In recent history, genocides have often been accompanied by the preparatory dehumanization of victims. In 1994, in Rwanda, for example, the Hutu interhamwe labelled the Tutsis . . . Read More

Death sentence for Asia Bibi confirmed

October 16, 2014 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Lahore, Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad, Quran

Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian woman accused of blasphemy and sentenced to death in 2010 has today had her sentence confirmed by the Lahore High Court. She is the first Christian woman to be given the death penalty under Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws, and her case sparked global condemnation. She was accused of . . . Read More

Gender equality suffers under faith restrictions

October 8, 2014 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan, Women

The rights of women and girls declines rapidly, the greater a country’s level of religious intolerance, a new study claims. The study is by the Religious Freedom and Business Association, run by Brian Grim, former Pew Research Centre Religion expert. He analysed data from Pew’s Government Restrictions on Religion Index . . . Read More

Girl speaks about forced conversion to Islam

September 3, 2014 Pakistan Children, Kidnapping, Marriage, Pakistan, Women

Being poor, female and Christian is “triple jeopardy” in Pakistan, says the BBC in the first of two interviews about forced conversion. Click here to watch (for 1’20”) 15-year-old Zeba Masih talk about her experience of being abducted and forcibly married to a Muslim.

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