Police have charged a Christian man, Haroon Shahzad, with blasphemy after he posted a Bible passage onto his Facebook page on June 29th. The passage, 1 Corinthians 10:18-21, refers to the sacrificing of food to idols, and the timing of the post coincided with the beginning of the Islamic feast of Eid al-Adha. The post was made without comment.
The Islamic feast commemorates God's provision of a lamb for Abraham to sacrifice in his son's place. A local villager took offense to Haroon's post, stating that it disrespected the Abrahamic tradition of animal sacrifice and likened Muslims to pagans. The villager shared a screenshot of the post with local social media groups and, as a result, it stirred up anger within the community.
The next day, leaders of local mosques called for people to gather in protest of the post after Friday prayers. Mobs from other villages also joined the angered community, and police were called to avert potential attacks made against the 250 to 300 Christian families in the village. While the authorities were able to deter any such attacks from occurring, the majority of the Christians were forced to flee the village, including Haroon and most of his family.
Charges were laid against Haroon for blasphemy, despite the argument that he had made no personal statement when posting the Scripture passage. In an effort to force him to surrender, the authorities detained his two sisters-in-law who had stayed behind to care for their disabled parents rather than fleeing. The women were released on July 2nd after Haroon's brother and two others presented themselves for detention in their stead.
Haroon was detained and then released on bail as of July 3rd. However, he was taken into "protective custody" the next day. The attorney representing him is hopeful that he will again be released on bail at the next hearing. It is believed that the charges against Haroon were largely based on a personal grudge harboured against him by the complainant, Imran Ullah.
Speaking of the original post, Christian and former lawmaker Tahir Naveed Chaudhry conceded that "there was no inflammatory comment in it, but perhaps the timing was not right." Unfortunately, the calls for protests from the mosque loudspeakers led to the possibility of mob violence being committed against Christians of the community in general.
The blasphemy laws in Pakistan have led to numerous cases of arrests and convictions, often due to interpersonal conflicts which have little to do with religion. It is believed that around 80 people are currently being detained in Pakistan on blasphemy charges, half of whom are facing life in prison or the death penalty. Even in cases where the accused individuals have been released, many of them were forced to hide or flee for their lives. One such example is Sawan Masih, an acquitted Christian man who remains virtually in prison because of the threats on his life. (For information on Sawan's situation, go to this page.) VOMC's ministry partner, Steadfast Global, continues to work diligently to get Sawan and his family out of the country, despite the roadblocks they are facing.
Prayerfully uplift Haroon, his family, and the other Christians in their community, who are living in fear because of this threatening situation. May each one of these believers be given the right words to say to help dispel the anger of hostile community members. Pray for the Lord's protection over the numerous followers of Jesus who have been forced to flee through no fault of their own. Finally, remember all those who have been unjustly sentenced with blasphemy and, as a result, presently remain in prisons across Pakistan (Hebrews 13:3).
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