Victory: Christians Saved from Muslim Attack in Pakistan

By Shaheryar Gill*

All too often in Pakistan, Muslims accuse Christians of blaspheming against Islam, with deadly consequences. On September 3, 2013, Organization for Legal Aid (OLA), the European Centre for Law and Justice’s (ECLJ) affiliate in Pakistan, successfully protected 150 Christian families from an imminent attack in a majority-Muslim community.

The crisis arose after Waseem Masih and Ali Raza, two men from the area, discussed the Bible and Quran.  Waseem is Christian and Ali is Muslim.  During the discussion, Ali grew agitated and accused Waseem and his pastor, Sattar Masih, of insulting Islam.  Ali informed Waseem that he was going to publicize Waseem’s blasphemy.

Concerned, Waseem informed his family of Ali’s threats. Waseem’s cousin and uncle visited Ali’s house. They tried to reason with Ali’s family, but the family refused to listen and instead stated that they would indeed publicize Waseem’s blasphemy and gather other Muslims against Waseem.

After that meeting, Waseem and Pastor Sattar went into hiding. Tension between area Muslims and Christians escalated, and on September 3, 2013, teachers at the area schools refused to teach the Christian students and instead sent them home. Terrified that they would soon be attacked by the Muslims, Christians in Pastor Sattar’s village began to flee their homes.

The OLA staff was notified of the situation on the evening of September 2, 2013. On September 3, a legal team from the OLA visited with some of the Christians who live near Waseem’s home. The Christians confirmed that Muslim teachers were sending the Christian children home from school, and that many Christians had fled the village.

Remembering how false accusations of blasphemy had escalated in the past into mob violence, the OLA team visited Waseem’s house and convinced his family that for their safety they should take the matter to the police. Waseem’s family agreed, and the OLA team took the family to a local police station. At the police station the family met with the Station House Officer and informed him of the situation. The Officer assured Waseem’s family that he would deal with the situation and prevent any violence from occurring.

After the OLA team left the village, about thirty area Muslims decided to hold a meeting at a local school; however, the Station House Officer was alerted to the meeting and arrived at the school with police officers before the meeting could start. The Officer warned the Muslims that he would not tolerate any violence in his jurisdiction, and that he would punish anyone who committed violence. He further informed the Muslims that the Christians would not present Waseem and Pastor Sattar to the Muslims.

Waseem and Sattar remain in hiding, but, due to the early intervention, the threat of violence was thwarted.

In the past few years, hundreds of Christian homes have been burned to ashes and innocent Christians have been killed after mob violence resulting from false accusations of blasphemy in Gojra, Korian village, and most recently in Joseph colony. However, this time a brewing attack was thwarted by timely intervention by the OLA team and the local law enforcement.

This is work for the persecuted Church at its most grassroots level, intervening to prevent mob violence in one of the world’s most hostile environments for religious liberty.  The OLA team deserves great credit for its courage and perseverance.

*Shaheryar Gill is an attorney with the ACLJ and ECLJ and oversees ECLJ’s affiliate in Pakistan.