ACLJ Exposes Systematic Extortion and Persecution of Christians in Pakistan

As many of us in the West know, life in Pakistan is much different. Christians are unjustly accused of blasphemy. Minor Christian girls are manipulated to convert to Islam and marry Muslim men – sometimes disgustingly older than the girls themselves.

The persecution doesn’t stop there. Employers often run what amount to racketeering schemes – leveling false accusations against Christian workers, extorting them, or having them thrown in jail. This is especially prevalent among brick kiln owners. They exploit vulnerability, offering illegal loans in moments of desperation, such as a sudden medical emergency or a wedding. These loans lock workers into bonded labor.

That’s regular life for many families in Pakistan.

For Irshad Tufail, a Christian father of four daughters, this has resulted in a nightmare scenario, and our international affiliate, the Organization for Legal Aid (OLA), has taken on his case.

Sign our petition and help us defend persecuted Christians in Pakistan.

In 1995, Irshad began working as an office assistant for a company that sells household appliances. His dedication, hard work, and competence soon earned him a promotion to head cashier. Yet by the end of 2022 – after 27 years of faithful employment with the same company – Irshad’s monthly salary stood at just 40,000 rupees (roughly $135 at the time), barely enough to feed his family.

In October 2022, Irshad’s oldest daughter was about 20 years old, and as is customary for some poor Pakistani families, Irshad arranged her marriage to a young Christian man. To cover the wedding expenses, he approached the company manager, Syed Khurram Shahzad, and asked for a small loan – which Shahzad refused. Irshad then asked whether he could obtain funds from his gratuity benefits, which are given to employees who have served an organization for a significant period of time. Shahzad not only refused the loan but also terminated Irshad’s employment.

In November 2022, after firing Irshad, Shahzad accused him of misappropriating 1,250,000 rupees (~$4,490), beat him, and forced him to sign a blank page and a blank check.

In January 2023, Shahzad filed a police complaint over the same amount. Irshad was arrested but received bail in March 2023 after another employee said he’d been falsely accused after asking Shahzad for a loan.

Shortly after, Shahzad filed a second complaint, accusing Irshad of misappropriating 15,300,000 rupees (~$53,000) back in 2018, claiming Irshad had confessed and given a postdated check for it – actually the same blank check taken under duress in November 2022. Irshad obtained pre-arrest bail in this case too.

In January 2026, a third case emerged: Abuzar Rafiq, a stranger to Irshad, alleged Irshad had drugged his tea and stolen 1.5 ounces of gold he was carrying to sell.

After this third case, Irshad’s bail in the second case was revoked, and he surrendered to police – only learning of the gold case once in prison.

After all this, in March 2026, Irshad’s wife and four daughters approached us and sought legal assistance. By that time, to make ends meet, Irshad’s wife had begun working as a babysitter, and his oldest daughter had quit her undergraduate studies to work as a server in a restaurant. The youngest of the four daughters had also dropped out of 6th grade, as the family could not afford school.

Before agreeing to help the family, our legal team began its own investigation, meticulously going through the paperwork to determine whether Irshad had been involved in any misappropriation of funds. The team did not find any evidence. Further, the timeline of the allegations made no sense: Shahzad fired Irshad in 2022 over a relatively small alleged theft (just over $4,000), yet had allegedly let him continue working as head cashier for years after supposedly stealing more than $53,000 in 2018.

Moreover, the absurdity of the entire gold-theft story confirmed Irshad’s innocence. Then our team found the link between the alleged misappropriation and the gold-theft case. The lawyers who were representing the company in the false misappropriation cases were the same lawyers representing Abuzar – the accuser in the false gold theft case. Our team also discovered over 60 criminal cases against different individuals (including former employees) filed by the same manager, Syed Khuram Shahzad.

After connecting all the dots, we decided to help Irshad and his family and filed bail petitions. In May 2026, noting the absurdity of the gold-theft story, the court not only granted him bail but also the judgment expressly stated that the bail decision should be given positive weight by the trial court.

Then in July 2026, after two refusals by the lower courts, the Lahore High Court granted Irshad bail in the misappropriation case.

The road ahead for Irshad in this fight is long and hard. Khurram Shahzad has made threats: “It doesn’t matter if Irshad got bail in one case, we will keep filing cases against him.” Because of Irshad’s daughters, our team remains motivated: We will keep defending Irshad until we secure justice for him.

Take action with the ACLJ. Help us defend persecuted Christians in Pakistan. Sign our petition.