A Pakistani court sentenced a Christian man to death after finding him guilty of blasphemy for insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad in text messages he sent to a Muslim co-worker in 2013, a defense lawyer said Thursday. Saiful Malook said his client, 37-year-old Asif Pervaiz, was convicted and sentenced this week in the eastern city of Lahore. It was the latest example of the Islamic nation’s strict upholding of blasphemy laws. Malook said the court rejected Pervaiz’s denial of the charges …
Pakistan’s police on Sunday charged a toddler and five others for holding an “illegal gathering” and “promoting sectarianism.” According to the charge sheet, 4-year-old Fazal Abbas and two others hosted an illegal Majlis (gathering) on the night of August 30th at the Aiwan e Hussain Imam Bargah in the village of Purana Ghanian. The village is located in the Kamoke municipality of the Gujranwala district. The charge sheet also accused the three organizers and six attendees for promoting sectarianism by hosting and …
A Rabwah bakery has been shut down after a suspected food poisoning outbreak left more than a dozen people in hospital. At least 40 people presented to Fazl e Omar Hospital over the weekend with gastroenteritis symptoms including vomiting, fever and cramps after they consumed food prepared at 7-11 Bakery on College Road. Fifteen of those people, including the hospital’s staff nurse were admitted for further treatment. The Punjab Food Authority closed the bakery on Sunday upon the instructions of …
An Ahmadi business owner was shot to death outside his shop on Wednesday. Mairaj Ahmad, 61, owned a pharmacy store in the Dabagari area of Peshawar. The incident took place on the night of August 12 when unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle pulled up to Ahmad’s shop and opened fire on him. Ahmad’s son Yasir claimed that their family was targeted because of their religious beliefs. He stated that the family was being attacked on social media for quite some …
Thousands of Pakistanis rallied Friday in Peshawar to show their support for the killer who gunned down an Ahmadi man on trial for blasphemy. The American, Tahir Naseem, died of his wounds before he could be taken to hospital while the gunman, Faisal Khan, was taken into custody. When Khan was arrested he told Police that he had been told in his dream to kill the Ahmadi man. Khan said: “He had claimed to be a Prophet, I swear to …
The United States on Thursday called for the immediate reformation of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws after an American citizen was killed over alleged blasphemy. “We are shocked, saddened, and outraged that American citizen Tahir Naseem was killed yesterday inside a Pakistani courtroom. Mr. Naseem had been lured to Pakistan from his home in Illinois by individuals who then used Pakistan’s blasphemy laws to entrap him,” a U.S. State Department spokesman said. “We grieve with the family of Mr. Naseem. We urge …
A young Pakistani Muslim walked into a courtroom in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday and shot and killed an Ahmadi man who was on trial for blasphemy. Tahir Ahmed Naseem, an American citizen had been in prison since his arrest in 2018, allegedly after claiming he was a prophet. He was a follower of the Ahmadiyya sect, which is persecuted in Pakistan where they have officially been declared non-Muslims. According to a lawyer, who was present in the …
Dozens of Ahmadi graves were destroyed by Pakistani authorities in Gujranwala district on Monday & Tuesday. The incident happened on 13th and 14th July in Tigri, a village located 100km north of Lahore. According to the Ahmadi spokesperson the desecration of graves was carried out by local Police and council authorities. Pictures and videos of the incident posted to Twitted by different users show Police officers, a Muslim cleric and several council officials supervising the destruction of Ahmadi gravestones. This …
Pakistan’s minority Ahmadi Muslims say scores of headstones have been destroyed by Pakistani authorities at a cemetery in Sheikhupura. Amir Mahmood, a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Community said the incident took place in Chak 79, a village in the Nawankot area of Sheikhupura district. Mahmood said locals, backed by Pakistani authorities desecrated 35 – 40 Ahmadi graves. He added that the issue arose after locals opposed a plan by Ahmadis to build a funeral home. BBC Urdu reported that village …
The United States has said it is “deeply disturbed” by the ongoing campaign against the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan. The remark was made by Sam Brownback, U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, on May 12 on Twitter. In his tweet Ambassador Brownback said: “Deeply disturbed by the rhetoric against the Ahmadi Muslim Community in Pakistan in discussions about the National Commission for Minorities. We urge government officials to promote inclusion and respect for all.” Ambassador Brownback’s message comes just days …
Pakistan’s writer and director Khalil-Ur-Rehman Qamar on Wednesday labeled the country’s minority Ahmadis ‘worthy of death’ during an interview with Parvez Jamil Mir. Qamar made the remarks while answering a question on the inclusion of Ahmadis in Pakistan’s National Commission for Minorities. He said: “They should accept that they are Infidels, then we will include them as a Minority, I have no objection to that. But if you challenge the concept of Khatm e Nabuwat while posing as a Muslim, …
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday backtracked on his decision to include Ahmadis in the National Commission for Minorities. During a cabinet meeting with his top minister PM Khan approved a memo submitted by Ministry of Religious Affairs & Interfaith Harmony urging the cabinet to exclude Ahmadis due to the “religious and historical sensetivity of the issue.” The same cabinet on April 29th had ordered the Ministry of Religious Affairs to include the Ahmadis, saying that: “The Ahmadi community, …