Christian Community Attacked In Pakistan After Believer Post Bible Verse
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
SARGODHA, PAKISTAN (Worthy News) – Hundreds of Muslims have attacked a Christian village community in Pakistan’s Punjab province and tried to burn their homes after a believer published a Bible verse on social media service Facebook, well-informed sources said Saturday.
Farooq Bashir, the president of the Christian Lawyers Association in Pakistan (CLAP), told Worthy News that the troubles began Friday in Chak 49 NB village when Christian Haroon Masih posted Bible verse 1 Corinthians 10:18-22 on Facebook.
After previous verses mentioned Christ, the verse says: “Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?”
An Islamic traditionalist movement saw the verse shared by the young man as “attacking” Islam’s Eid of Sacrifice religious holiday, added Bashir, who is defending the family.
“The Ahl al-Hadith [movement] issued a ‘fatwa,’ a religious decree, after Friday’s prayer service,” condemning the posting, he explained.
“Haroon Masih and his father, Yunas Masih, were already hiding. But two female family members, including his father’s wife Mishal, were taken away by police for some time from their home in Chak 49 NB, which is part of [the city of ] Sargodha,” the lawyer added.
It was unclear whether the women were charged or held for interrogation and their protection. “However, it was thanks to the timely intervention by police that Christian homes were not torched,” Bashir stressed.
FOOTAGE SHOWN
Video footage shared with Worthy News saw hundreds of protesters running through the village streets.
Yet, blasphemy charges have been filed against Haroon Masih by local authorities, said Bashir, who is in contact with the family and visited the area.
The young man and his father are now hiding for fear of being detained or even killed by angry Muslims, Bashir explained.
Christians accused of blasphemy charges in the Islamic nation face long prison terms and even execution. There were no signs late Saturday that calm returned to Chak 49 NB village.
“Police have cordoned off the area, but the local Muslim leader still asks for the head of the Christian accused of blasphemy,” complained Bashir, who is also an advocate at the high court in Lahore, Punjab’s capital.
This weekend’s reported attacks in Pakistan are the latest in a series of violent incidents targeting minority Christians and other devoted communities, Worthy News established.
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