Tag: Pakistan

Pakistan court clears Rimsha; location remains secret as risk remains

November 20, 2012 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Islamabad, Mumtaz Qadri, Pakistan, Paul Bhatti, Prophet Muhammad, Punjab, Quran, Rawalpindi, Rimsha Masih, Salmaan Taseer

The case against Rimsha Masih, the teenage Pakistani Christian girl, has today been dropped by the court in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. Rimsha, who was arrested in August on suspicion of desecrating Islamic texts, was originally charged in an adult court with blasphemy; there the penalty was life imprisonment. The . . . Read More

Rimsha and family will stay in Pakistan, lawyer says

October 10, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Children, Islamabad, Mardan, Pakistan, Paul Bhatti, Prophet Muhammad, Punjab, Rawalpindi

Rimsha Masih and her family will remain in Pakistan after her legal ordeal is over, one of her lawyers says. The teen-aged Pakistani girl, whose arrest in August on suspicion of desecrating Islamic texts, is due to appear in an Islamabad juvenile court Oct. 17. Originally charged in regular court . . . Read More

From Africa to Asia, offended Muslims vent anger on Christian churches

September 26, 2012 Global News -- No Particular Country Africa, Algeria, Asia, Bauchi, Benghazi, Boko Haram, Cairo, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Mardan, Mosul, Nigeria, Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad, Zinder

Across much of the Muslim world, more than two weeks of backlash to the internet video “Innocence of the Muslims” has occasionally been directed at Christians, from computer hacks to church burnings. It can be difficult to sort deliberate acts of persecution from simple undirected anger sparked by the video, . . . Read More

Case against Rimsha’s dramatic turn prompts Pakistan religious leaders to debate blasphemy law

September 4, 2012 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Islamabad, Pakistan, Pakistan Ulema Council, Paul Bhatti, Quran, Rimsha Masih

An unexpected twist in the Rimsha Masih blasphemy case appears to have paved the way for her freedom from apparently false charges of desecrating the Quran. The imam who supported her accuser was himself arrested and appeared in court on the same charge as the girl, that of desecrating the . . . Read More

Talk of violence against Rimsha worries her lawyer

August 31, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Children, Islamabad, Lahore, Minorities, Mumtaz Qadri, Pakistan, Rimsha Masih, Salmaan Taseer, Shahbaz Bhatti

Confident on Wednesday of Rimsha Masih’s release, her lawyer was apprehensive Thursday after a prosecutor hinted strongly at the likelihood of violence if she is freed. “This girl is guilty,” said Rao Abdur Raheem, a lawyer for the man who has accused the girl of blasphemy against Islam. “If the . . . Read More

Teen accused of blasphemy will leave jail, but can’t go home, lawyer says

August 30, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Children, Islamabad, Pakistan, Punjab, Quran, Rimsha Masih, Women

Rimsha Masih is likely to be cleared of the blasphemy charge against her, but never will be able to return home, her lawyer says. Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, who has taken up the defense of the young Christian girl whose case has renewed international debate about Pakistan’s notorious anti-blasphemy laws, said . . . Read More

Young Pakistani girl arrested for ‘blasphemy’

August 21, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Children, Islamabad, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Rimsha Masih

Can a girl reported to be as young as 11 commit blasphemy? And in Pakistan, where blasphemy is punishable by death, should the law even apply? Last week’s arrest of Rimsha Masih, a girl reported to have Down’s Syndrome, is re-igniting Pakistan’s national debate about religious freedom. News of the . . . Read More

Christian legislator in Pakistan stuck with Muslim ID

June 26, 2012 Pakistan Converts, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Minorities, Pakistan, Punjab

Pakistan’s rigid system of prohibiting Muslims from changing their religion status on their national ID cards nearly cost a Punjab politician his post – even though he has always been a Christian. Rana Asif Mahmood’s political opponents in April sought to disqualify him from the Punjab Provincial Assembly seat reserved . . . Read More

Police in Pakistan decline to prosecute rape suspects

June 12, 2012 Pakistan Kidnapping, Narowal, Pakistan, Rape, Women

Police have refused to arrest Muslims accused of causing the miscarriage of twin girls by beating their mother, even though a judge cancelled the suspects’ interim bails, according to the woman’s husband. Officers in Punjab Province’s Narowal district are biased in siding with Muslims accused of causing the miscarriage and . . . Read More

Christians in Pakistan allege seizure of graveyard

June 6, 2012 Pakistan Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League, Punjab

Christians in a village in Punjab Province are fighting to save their decades-old graveyard from being converted into farmland by a retired army colonel, sources said. Because of the military man’s influence, police have refused to address the complaint by Christians of Bhondary Wala village in Narang Mandi in spite . . . Read More

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