Pakistan: Christian Brothers Tortured, Forced to Confess Allegiance to Islam or Die
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Two Christian brothers in Punjab Province, Pakistan, were abducted last month by Islamic extremists who brutally tortured them and ordered them to confess allegiance to Islam or be killed, the Christian Post (CP) reports.
The United Kingdom-based Centre reported the abduction and assaults on Christian brothers Azam and Nadeem Masih for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS-UK), an advocacy group that assists persecuted Pakistani Christians. CLAAS-UK told CP that the Masih brothers were abducted by two Muslim men from near their home in Sialkot district’s Kharota Syedan area, Punjab Province, on Jan.22.
In a formal complaint to officers at Kotli Loharan Police Station, Azam said he was taken to the home of one of the attackers, where he was beaten with rods and ordered to convert to Islam on pain of death, CP reports. Nadeem was apparently subjected to similar treatment. Both men confessed allegiance to Islam in order to save their lives and were released. The brothers required medical treatment at Sialkot’s civil hospital. Following their discharge from the hospital, the two men went into hiding.
Notably, the two Muslim attackers were taken into custody – a rare act of support for Christians by the authorities, CP said.
“Since by far the most Christians live in Punjab Province, many incidents of persecution, discrimination, and intolerance occur there,” the Open Doors international Christian advocacy group reports in a website statement. Christians from a Muslim background suffer the brunt of persecution, both from radical Islamic groups who see them as apostates, and from families, friends, and neighbors who see conversion as a shameful act of betrayal to family and community.”
Muslim-majority Pakistan ranks 7 on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted; numbering 4,195,000,Christians make up 1.8% of the country’s population.
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