Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 653 | Wed 13 July 2022
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PAKISTAN: DEATH FOR BLASPHEMY
by Elizabeth Kendal
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| Ashfaq Masih of Lahore, sentenced to death, 4 July 2022. Morning Star News |
On Monday 4 July, in a court in Lahore, Christian mechanic Ashfaq Masih (34) was deemed guilty of blasphemy under section 295-C of Pakistan’s infamous blasphemy law and sentenced to death by hanging. The ruling has left Ashfaq Masih and his family utterly distraught. In his ‘not guilty’ plea (seen by Church in Chains) Ashfaq recounts how he ran a very successful business in Lahore, servicing bicycles and motorbikes, until a Muslim motorbike mechanic named Muhammad Naveed set up business opposite him. Naveed coveted Ashfaq’s success and was routinely hostile towards him. On 5 June 2017 Naveed threatened Ashfaq with ‘dire consequences’. The very next day a Muslim named Muhammad Irfan came to Ashfaq’s shop for wheel balancing of his motorbike. Afterwards, however, Irfan refused to pay, telling Ashfaq, ‘I am a follower of Peer Fakhir [a Muslim ascetic], don’t ask for money from me.’ To which Ashfaq replied, ‘I am a believer in Jesus Christ and I don’t believe in Peer Fakhir and please give me my labour.’ Irfan summonsed Naveed, and after arguing with Ashfaq, the two Muslims accused Ashfaq of blasphemy. Subsequently, Ashfaq’s Muslim landlord demanded he vacate the premises. Ashfaq pleaded for mercy, but to no avail. On 15 June 2017, after conspiring together, Ashfaq’s landlord and business rival lodged a report of blasphemy against him, accusing Ashfaq of uttering ‘blasphemous words about Prophet Muhammad…[which] could not be restated.’ Ashfaq has been imprisoned in Camp Jail, Lahore, ever since.
The blasphemy case against Ashfaq Masih was finally heard in March 2022. According to Church in Chains (7 July), the judge ruled that because Muslims ‘would not spin a story in this regard’ and Ashfaq’s defence was ‘not believable’, Ashfaq Masih must be declared guilty and sentenced to be ‘hanged by neck till his death, subject to confirmation by Hon’able High Court.’ Ashfaq’s family will appeal. As Nasir Saeed, the Director of CLAAS-UK [Christian Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement-UK] told Church in Chains, ‘Because of pressure from the Islamic groups, lower courts’ judges are always hesitant to free the victims but make popular decisions to save their skin and shift their burden to the high court. Ashfaq’s case was very clear – the shop owner wanted him out and Naveed was a business rival who implicated him in a false blasphemy case. He is innocent and has already spent five years in prison for a crime he never committed.’
Ashfaq Masih is one of several Christians to be sentenced to death for blasphemy, or to have their death sentence upheld, since Asia Bibi was acquitted in the Supreme Court on 31 October 2018 [RLPB 481 (28 Nov 2018)] and Shafqat Emmanuel (49) and his wife Shagufta Kausar (52) were acquitted of the charge of blasphemy in the Lahore High Court on 3 June 2021 [RLPB 601 (9 June 2021)]. Clearly, despite these victories, nothing has changed and the battle continues. On 8 June Christian brothers Qaiser Ayub (45) and Amoon Ayub (42), also from Lahore, learned that their appeal against their death sentences had failed in the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi, meaning they will remain on death row [see RLPB 651 (29 June 2022)].
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| Clutching her Bible, Nawab Bibi (wife of Pastor Zafar Bhatti) attends court with BACA officer. |
In another shocking blow, on 3 January Pastor Zafar Bhatti – Pakistan’s longest serving blasphemy prisoner (in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Central Jail since July 2012) – had his sentence of life imprisonment upgraded to death. In 2017, Pastor Bhatti had been sentenced to life imprisonment rather than death (which is mandatory for blasphemy) precisely because, as the judge admitted, there was ‘no concrete evidence’ against him. On 3 September 2020, Pastor Bhatti suffered a heart attack in his cell. Though he recovered, his health remained fragile [RLPB 568 (23 Sep 2020)]. On 3 January 2022, as Pastor Bhatti’s lawyer appealed for bail on health grounds, Judge Sahibzada Naqeeb Shehzad, of Sessions Court Rawalpindi, took the opportunity to convert the life sentence to death by hanging.
On 12 May, Zafar’s wife, Nawab Bibi, and a team from the British Asian Christian Association (BACA; which has been supporting the family) visited Zafar in prison. To everyone’s shock, Zafar’s health had deteriorated markedly. BACA reports that prison medical staff had given Zafar medicine for his diabetes which left him suffering abdominal pain and vomiting blood. They changed his medication but now his left leg is swollen from his foot up to the top of his thigh, and his eyesight has weakened significantly. Distraught, Nawab Bibi is appealing for prayer for her fragile husband. After that visit, BACA reached out to Saif Ul Malook, the renowned solicitor who handled the successful appeals for Asia Bibi and Shafqat and Shagufta. Saif Ul Malook has agreed to take the case. Now BACA is raising funds to cover the fee [read article, sign petition, and donate here].
PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR SOVEREIGN GOD WILL
* protect, sustain and rescue the dozens of Christians currently enduring horrendous prison conditions as victims of Pakistan’s infamous and highly exploitable blasphemy law. We pray especially for those on death row: Ashfaq Masih (34); the Ayub brothers, Qaiser (45) and Amoon (42); and Pakistan’s longest serving blasphemy prisoner, the increasingly fragile Pastor Zafar Bhatti (56). Lord have mercy!
But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head (Psalm 3:3 ESV).
* protect, equip, and supply the various Christian aid and advocacy groups that support Pakistan’s Christian blasphemy prisoners and their distraught and impoverished families. May the God who rained down manna from heaven [Psalm 78:23-25] ensure they always have the funds necessary to provide prisoners and their families with food, medicines, housing, legal services and staff members who can walk alongside them through the most difficult of times. Lord have mercy!
* intervene in Pakistan – a nation mired in hatred and wracked with trouble – and break through the darkness for the sake of his imperilled long-persecuted Church: ‘in wrath remember mercy’.
O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy (Habakkuk 3:2 ESV).
SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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DEATH FOR BLASPHEMY IN PAKISTAN
On 15 June 2017 a business rival filed a baseless blasphemy charge against Christian mechanic Ashfaq Masih (34). Ashfaq has been in jail in Lahore ever since. On 4 July 2022, a judge deemed Ashfaq guilty and sentenced him to death by hanging. Advocate Nasir Saeed, explains: ‘Because of pressure from the Islamic groups, lower courts’ judges are always hesitant to free the victims but make popular decisions to save their skin and shift their burden to the high court.’ Ashfaq’s family will appeal. Pastor Zafar Bhatti (56) was sentenced to life in prison in 2017 after an Islamic cleric filed a baseless blasphemy charge against him. However, on 3 January 2022, a judge in Rawalpindi upgraded the sentence to death by hanging. His already fragile health has since deteriorated markedly. Please pray.
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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted Church. To support this ministry visit ElizabethKendal.com.
Elizabeth has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.
For more information visit www.ElizabethKendal.com