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Christian Widow Accused of Blasphemy Released on Bail

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Pakistan – A court in Pakistan on Saturday (May 13) released on bail a Christian woman charged under a blasphemy statute that calls for life in prison, her attorney said.

Lazar Allah Rakha told Morning Star News that Arifwala Additional Sessions Judge Ijaz Ahmad Phulwaran on Friday (May 12) admitted the post-arrest bails of Musarrat Bibi and a Muslim accused along with her, Muhammad Sarmad, on bonds of 100,000 rupees (US$338) each.

“The court accepted my arguments that there was a four-day delay in the registration of the First Information Report [FIR] against Musarrat Bibi and Muhammad Sarmad,” Rakha told Morning Star News. “Moreover, both accused had no intention of burning the koranic pages.”

Bibi and Sarmad are illiterate and were only carrying out orders of the school administration to clean the storeroom of the school where she worked as an office worker and Sarmad as a gardener, the attorney said. Intent must be proven for a blasphemy conviction in Pakistan.

Bibi, 45, and Sarmad on April 15 were told to clean the storeroom at the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in 66-EB village, Arifwala tehsil of Pakpattan District, which was filled with paper and other scrap items.

The two workers allegedly gathered the wastepaper and other scrap in a corner of the school and set them on fire. Some students later noticed that the burned items also contained pages with koranic verses.

School staff members, including principal Nasreen Saeed, were aware that Bibi and Sarmad had not burned koranic pages intentionally, said attorney Javed Sahotra, who is also representing Bibi. The principal and others also tried to pacify protests by some teachers and students.

Four days later, on April 19, local Muslim Kashif Nadeem called a police helpline and accused the Christian woman of committing blasphemy by burning koranic pages at the school. Nadeem named only Bibi, but police found the gardener was also involved in setting the pages on fire during investigation, Sahotra said.

Nadeem gathered a mob outside the school that staged a protest, and police arrested Bibi and Sarmad to avoid unrest, he said. They were charged under Section 295-B of the blasphemy statutes and sent to Pakpattan Jail on judicial remand.

Section 295-B states, “Whoever willfully defiles, damages or desecrates a copy of the Koran or of an extract therefrom or uses it in any derogatory manner or for any unlawful purpose shall be punishable with imprisonment for life.”

Bibi has three daughters, two married, while the youngest is 14 and lives with her mother. Bibi’s husband, Barkat Masih, had worked as a teacher in the same school, and after his death five years ago, the institution hired her as an office worker in accordance with government service rules. She also ran a small store in the school to supplement her income.

‘All Lives Matter’

Anglican Church of Pakistan Bishop Azad Marshall said the case shows how blasphemy allegations are misused to victimize vulnerable citizens. In spite of repeated demands for the government to introduce deterrents, he said, officials have failed to stop the misuse of the blasphemy laws.

“It’s unfortunate that police arrested and charged both the accused with blasphemy despite confirming that they were illiterate and had not committed the act intentionally,” Marshall told Morning Star News. “The allegation itself is nothing short of a death warrant, and we continue to pray for their safety.”

Pakistan has seen an increase in violence in the name of religion, he said.

“False accusations of blasphemy seem to have become the norm here,” Marshall said. “We understand that abolishing or repealing of the blasphemy statutes is unlikely in this religiously-charged environment, but it’s high time the state should implement a strong deterrent against the misuse of the laws.”

The bishop said he and others have made several recommendations to successive government administrations to curb the abuse, without progress.

“For example, parliament should make all blasphemy offenses non-cognizable, so that police cannot arrest a person accused of blasphemy or investigate the allegations without a court warrant,” Marshall said. “Similarly, FIRs related to blasphemy should be registered only after permission is granted by the concerned government before the courts can take cognizance of them.”

No one should suffer violence or rot in prison due to false allegations of a crime as serious as blasphemy, Marshall said.

“For us, all lives matter,” he said. “We can’t choose between Christians and people of other faiths when it comes to justice.”

In Muslim-majority Pakistan, baseless blasphemy allegations commonly stir up mobs and violence. In February, an angry mob entered a police station in Nankana Sahib District, seized a person accused of blasphemy from his cell and killed him.

In December 2021, a Sri Lankan national, Priyantha Diyawadanage, who was working as a factory manager in Sialkot city, was beaten to death and set ablaze by an angry crowd over allegations of blasphemy.

International and Pakistani rights groups say accusations of blasphemy have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal scores. Pakistan’s government has long been under pressure to change the country’s blasphemy laws, but other political forces in the country have strongly resisted.

More than 2,000 people have been accused of committing blasphemy since 1987, and at least 88 people have been killed by mobs after similar allegations, according to the Centre for Social Justice, a Lahore-based independent group advocating for the rights of minorities.

Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, up from eighth the previous year.
Sources:christiannews http://theendtimeradio.com

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Boko Haram Kills 2 Christian Education Workers Near Army Base

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Nigeria — Boko Haram insurgents recently targeted Christians traveling near a Nigerian army base along the deadly Damboa–Maiduguri highway, killing two Christian teachers and injuring several others.

The victims, Blessing Luka and Gideon Bitterleaf — both devoted Christian educators with the Damboa Local Education Authority — were killed Monday morning when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device (IED) allegedly planted by the Islamic terror group.

The attack occurred just miles from Damboa town, near a military checkpoint that has seen multiple assaults in recent months. Eyewitnesses told International Christian Concern (ICC) that the victims were seated in the front of a commercial Toyota HiAce van transporting mangoes to Maiduguri when the explosion ripped through the vehicle, killing the two Christians instantly. The other passengers sustained varying degrees of injuries and were taken to the State Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri.

“This is a targeted assault not only on innocent Christians but on Nigeria’s hope for recovery through education,” one local said. “Blessing and Gideon served with love and courage in one of the most dangerous regions in the country.”

The Damboa–Maiduguri highway, once vital for trade and access to schools, churches, and hospitals, has become a blood-soaked route of terror. Boko Haram and its rival faction, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have turned this 54-mile road into a death trap — using landmines, ambushes, and abductions to terrorize civilians and deter humanitarian operations.

Despite repeated attacks and growing calls for protection, the Nigerian government has yet to respond publicly to the incident or announce additional security measures.

“Our Christian communities are exhausted from burying loved ones,” a local pastor said. “We need security, not silence.”

Amnesty International condemned the attack, calling Boko Haram’s use of IEDs on public roads and their ongoing campaign against civilians, particularly Christians, a violation of international humanitarian law.

“These are war crimes,” the organization stated, urging Nigerian authorities to act swiftly.

Since March, Boko Haram has intensified its bombing and abduction campaign across Borno state, often singling out Christian communities, farmers, and women. The insurgency, which began in 2009, has displaced more than 2 million people and devastated livelihoods in northeast Nigeria.

Christian Rights Activist Gata Moses called on the Nigerian government and international partners to take immediate steps to protect Christian communities, ensure justice for victims, and hold Boko Haram accountable for its atrocities.
Sources:persecution

http://theendtimeradio.com

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Pakistan enacts law to ensure religious minorities’ rights

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The Pakistan parliament on May 13 disregarded opposition members’ resistance and passed a law to establish a commission to protect the rights of religious minorities in this Islamic nation.

National Commission for Minority Rights Bill 2025, in its introduction, said that Pakistan “is bound to promote respect of religious diversity and create favourable conditions” for all.

The bill aims to ensure that religious minorities are “enabled to freely practice, express and develop their own culture as it is guaranteed in the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973,” it said.

The bill’s passage “is a significant and historical moment for Pakistan’s polity and society,” said Peter Jacob, a Catholic human rights activist in the country.

“The law provides a strong basis for creating an empowered and autonomous human rights body,” said Jacob, who heads the Lahore-based rights group, Centre for Social Justice.

Jacob, who campaigned for such an independent rights commission amid anti-Christian violence in the country, said the law brings “the huge democratic potential for the inclusion of religious minorities into the policy-making in the country.”

The commission aims to ensure that religious minorities enjoy human rights in all spheres, including the religious, economic, social, and cultural spheres, as outlined in the national constitution and international covenants and declarations, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Besides, it also provides “an opportunity for correcting exclusionary societal trends that have been plaguing our system,” Jacob said.

The law grants the commission the authority to summon witnesses, inspect detention facilities, and initiate suo motu inquiries, enabling it to issue binding recommendations to both federal and provincial authorities.

Additionally, it is mandated to have its own budget for operations without requiring prior approval from the government. It should report its audited annual report only to the parliament.

Reverend Shehzad Gill, a senior pastor from the Protestant Church of Pakistan, expressed concern that the commission “could be too bureaucratic.”

The law stipulates that the commission be led by a chairperson from a religious minority community and will include fourteen representatives from various regions, at least 33 percent of them women.

An ex-officio member from the National Commission for Human Rights will also be part of the commission, all of whom will be appointed by the Prime Minister through “a transparent nomination process,” according to the law.

“The true test of the commission’s effectiveness lies in its ability to function independently and impartially,” said Gill, who also works as a development adviser in the Diocese of Raiwind.

Ataurehman Saman, deputy director of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Pakistan, said previously that they had a name-sake rights commission under the religious ministry, and “the state had been falsely claiming to have a commission for minorities at international forums since 1995.”

In 2020, the then-government established an ad hoc commission for minorities, but it was rejected by minority communities as toothless.

In June 2024, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, suo motu, requested the government to establish a statutory body to safeguard the rights of religious minorities as guaranteed by the country’s constitution and legal system.

With that, Christian groups and rights activists joined others to press for an independent body that can function effectively. The decade-long campaign resulted in the drafting of the National Commission for Minority Rights Bill 2025.

On April 23, 2025, the Prime Minister relocated the existing commission from the Ministry of Religious Affairs to the Ministry of Human Rights, signaling a shift toward rights-based enforcement.

Christian leaders acknowledge that while they view the new independent commission as a step forward, it may ultimately fail if it fails to exercise its authority and becomes a tool of its political masters.

“This [the new commission] is not the end of the road — it’s the beginning of a long journey towards justice and equality for religious minorities in Pakistan,” said Jacob.
Sources:ucanews

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Faces of the Persecuted | Pastor Ojih

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Nigeria – The sharp blade of a machete cut the ropes that tied Pastor Ojih’s feet together. Rough hands jerked him to his feet from the ground where he had laid for hours, singing praises to God with his cheek pressed into the dirt.

Pastor Ojih and several other Christians had been captured by radical Islamists, bound, and left alone to contemplate their fate under the scorching heat of Nigeria’s sun. They were told to stand and decide their fate.

“If you want to live for Christ, go to this side,” his captor said, jerking his hand toward a man dressed in white with a sword who stood apart from the captives. “If you want to go for Mohammad, remain where you are.”

Pastor Ojih led the way for those who would stand for Christ with a song of praise coming from his lips. Seven others followed. He watched, with tears in his eyes, as the men who turned to Islam to save their lives began to recite the Arabic vows to convert to Islam.

Pastor Ojih kneeled in front of his executioner and was given one last chance. His executioner raised his sword and asked him if he wanted to live as a Muslim or die as a Christian.

The husband and father of four turned to his companions and spoke his last words. “If you survive, tell my family that I died well and am living with Christ. And if we all die, we know that we died for the Lord.”

After hearing the testimonies of so many martyrs over the years, I’m struck by the fact that in account after account, you will find that the death of the martyr often involves a conscious choice. They are given a choice to turn away from Christ and live or to die in Christ.

If you are like most people, when you read accounts like Pastor Ojih and these early Christians, you are struck by their courage and are probably asking yourself, “Could I do what they did? Could I die as a faithful witness with a sword over my neck?”

In Luke 14:33, Jesus says, “Any of you who does not give everything he has, cannot be my disciple.” Are we willing to give up everything, even our own life, for God? He demands our everything, and yet we hold back. Our love for the world and its comforts often rivals our love for the One who offers us the greatest of treasures, an unconditional, incomprehensible love and the gift of eternal life.

Jesus calls us in Matthew 22 to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, and mind. The martyrs are an inspiring example of what loving the Lord with all that is within us looks like. They’re not just being willing, but purposefully choosing to lay down their very life in order to demonstrate just how invaluable the love of God is. They consider the cost of their life a small price to pay for the great reward of being found faithful in Him.

Ojih and the apostles’ fate was sealed long before they met their executioner. Why? Because they had found the ultimate treasure that was worth everything to them. This is why death (eternal life) is their choice.
Sources:persecution

http://theendtimeradio.com

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