ECLJ Files Appeal in a Blasphemy Case in Pakistan

We would like to bring you an update on an important blasphemy case out of Pakistan in which the Community Development Initiative (CDI), the Pakistani affiliate of the ECLJ, has filed an appeal in the Lahore High Court.

Falsely accused of burning Qur’anic verses, Imran Masih, a young Christian, was sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 Rupees (US $ 1190) by the Sessions Court of Faisalabad, Pakistan. Imran Masih was falsely accused of burning some papers that allegedly contained Qur’anic verses. According to Pakistan’s Penal Code Section 295-B, “Whoever wilfully [sic] defiles, damages or desecrates a copy of the Holy Qur’an or [] an extract therefrom or uses it in any derogatory manner or for any unlawful purpose shall be punish[able] with imprisonment for life.”

After the court pronounced the judgment, the complainant, Faryad Ali Jutt, who is also Masih’s neighbor, brought dhol walas (traditional drum beaters), chanted Islamic slogans, and distributed confectionaries in the streets to celebrate what they called, “triumph of Islam.” The Masih family was threatened and alarmed by this celebration.

Masih’s ordeal began on July 1, 2009, when he was cleaning his bookstore. He found some useless papers and books that he set on fire in order to dispose of. He also found an old textbook on the Arabic language. Fearing he might dispose it of improperly, Masih consulted his Muslim neighbor, Hajji Liaquat Ali, who owns a building materials business adjacent to Masih’s bookstore. Ali told Masih to dispose of the book by burning it. Knowing that Ali was a Muslim who could determine if it was an Islamic religious book, Masih followed his instructions, and put the book in the burning fire. The book was almost half-gutted by the fire when Ali drew it out of the burning pile and raised a tumult, saying a Christian had set the Qur’an on fire.

Masih had hardly reached home when a frenzied mob began beating at his gate. Ali had gathered a large number of Muslims in a very short time for it was announced from the loudspeakers of the area mosques that a Christian had burned the Qur’an. The angry mob dragged Masih and his brother, Naveed Danish, out and began beating them. The mob was ruthlessly beating the brothers, and doused them with kerosene oil to set them on fire, when the patrolling police intervened and took Masih to the area police station.

Even after the police had taken Masih in custody, Muslims continued to announce the alleged desecration of the Qur’an. More than one thousand Muslim zealots had gathered and surrounded the police station. They demanded that the police hand Masih over to them. The police registered a case under the blasphemy laws of Pakistan and distributed its copies to settle the mob down.

During the investigation after the incident, the CDI office learned that several Muslims were planning an attack on the Christian houses where Masih lived. However, some Muslim neighbors opposed the plan saving many Christian lives. The Muslim neighbors were called “infidels” for helping the Christians.

Masih’s father, Ghafoor Masih, told the CDI that the purpose behind the false allegation was Ali’s jealousy over the bookstore that Masih owned for more than thirty years. Ali wanted the space of the bookstore to extend his building materials business. Ali had asked Masih’s landlady to remove Masih and let him rent the store but she refused and wanted to continue the ongoing contract with the Masihs. Rejecting Masih’s plea, the court said that “[t]here was no plausible reason for the prosecution witnesses to falsely implicate[] [Masih] in this case and his plea that the witnesses wanted to get his shop vacated is on its face value an absurd defence, [and] hence cannot be believed.”

Masih’s father says he has been running the bookstore for more than three decades and now he does not know if he can continue that or enter any other business due to the threat by the Muslim complainant and the witnesses. Students from the nearby schools buy books and stationary from Masih’s shop. But the complainant and other Muslims went to those schools and distributed pamphlets to the teachers and students urging them not to buy from “a blasphemer’s bookshop.” Masih’s father said that his family feels very insecure and powerless, but has hope in Jesus. Masih’s brother-in-law, thirty-three year old Iftikhar Sahotra, collapsed and died while present at Masih’s court hearing.

CDI attorneys have filed an appeal in the Lahore High Court to challenge the Session Court’s decision. We will update you of any further developments.