Attack on church in Pakistan: Christian sentenced to death for publishing hate speech against Muslims

A Christian man in Pakistan has been sentenced to death for allegedly sharing content on social media deemed hateful towards Muslims, his lawyer said on Monday. The verdict follows a serious mob attack on Christians in the eastern province of Punjab last year.

In August 2023, violence broke out in Jaranwala, Faisalabad, when some local Muslims claimed they saw Christian Raja Amir and his friend tearing pages from a Quran, throwing them on the ground, and writing offensive remarks on other pages.

Police chief Rizwan Khan said the alleged act had enraged local Muslims, who attacked several churches and Christian homes, burning furniture and other household items. Some members of the Christian community fled their homes to escape the mob.

Ehsan Shan, who was not directly involved in the alleged desecration, was accused of reposting the defaced Quran pages on his TikTok account, according to his lawyer Khurram Shahzad. Shahzad also declared his intention to appeal against the death sentence imposed by a court in Sahiwal in Punjab province on Saturday.

Amir Farooq, the police officer responsible for Shan’s arrest, said the man “shared the hateful content at a sensitive time when authorities were already struggling to contain the violence.”

Naveed Kashif, a local priest in Sahiwal, questioned “why the court has handed down such an extreme verdict when those linked to the attacks have still not been punished,” but acknowledged that he did not condone Shan’s actions, AP reported.

In Pakistan, a country with a Muslim majority, blasphemy is a burning issue. Even mere accusations of disrespect towards Islam and its prophet Muhammad can trigger violent and deadly reactions from vigilante groups.

Since Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer was assassinated by his own bodyguard in 2011 for advocating for blasphemy law reform, there has been little to no reflection on this issue.

Earlier this month, 72-year-old Nazir Masih succumbed to injuries sustained in May when an angry mob attacked him after accusing him of blasphemy.