Faisalabad: Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP) has been providing assistance to victims of religiously persecuted and highly concerned on growing numbers of cases of blasphemy and violence on the basis of religion & beliefs.

Basharat Masih, Christian youth was accused of another blasphemy offence and as per the FIR dated June 6, 2024, blasphemous contents were being uploaded from a Facebook account and Basharat was falsely accused of finding the Facebook ID in his phone. 

HRFP team Fact Findings the case by visiting the locations and got information through Basharat’s father George Masih while he visited HRFP office, he shared that his son Basharat Masih was disappeared since 26 June 2024 when he was travelling to Naran valley from Faisalabad and later recently got information that on a way from Faisalabad to Rawalpindi, when the bus stopped at Stop # 26, in Rawalpindi city, he was arrested and sent to jail.

HRFP team found that Basharat Masih has falsely accused of sharing blasphemous content on social media, allegedly insulting the Prophet of Islam while Basharat said that he is innocent and has been trapped for accusing of blasphemy.

Another case is that of Waqar Masih, a Christian who was attacked by two Muslim men in Chack 209 G.B village in Faisalabad district of Pakistan and forced to work in their farmhouse. On 2 September 2024, Imran Ali and Muhammad Zubair were released on bail following the shooting and FIR registration. Waqar Masih and his family are in hiding, facing extreme threats. Imran Ali and Mohammad Zubair and their religious & political allies threatened Ishaq Masih, Waqar Masih, Shamaun Masih and other family members so, they left the village and lived in hiding, details of which they shared during their visit to the HRFP office.

A Christian girl, Dia Iftikhar, has been kidnapped since 12 September 2024. A Muslim man, Muhammad Ghazal, from Jaranwala, forced her to marry and convert her to Islam. FIR registered on 13 September 2024 at local police on the complaint of Dia’s moth Shahida Bibi, but police never took any actions yet against the the abductor and facilitators. The police were unable to retrieve Dia as they, along with religious and political figures, provided support to the kidnappers and put pressure on Dia’s parents to give up the case and comply with all their demands. HRFP team, fact findings the case, collected facts and documents and started assistance since Dia's mother Shahida Bibi visited HRFP office and requested possible assistance.

Attia Bibi a Christian girl of District Faisalabad faced Physical Violence on 10 August 2024 during the attempt of abduction when she was going with family from her village Chak # 34 J.B to Aminpur Bangla, a small canal bridge goes toward Chak # 32 JB. On the way, the two followed her on a bike and tried to kidnap her. Later, the same Muslim man, and others also tried to kidnap her and her sister, Ulfat Bibi.  The FIR has not been registered due to the influence of the criminals and the court proceedings are still ongoing. HRFP is helping them as Attia Bibi and her husband Naveed Masih went to the HRFP office to share the details and request for help.

Naveed Walter, president of Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP) said that the doubts of blasphemy allegations suffice to know through the recent investigation reports of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), as per following their official letter dated 9 January 2024, entitled “The Blasphemy Business- A Suspicious Gang is trapping youth in blasphemy cases & extorting money from them after approaching FIA in Rawalpindi and Islamabad”. Naveed Walter said that Basharat Masih and his father George Masih also exposed the same trap of some people. Naveed Walter said these reports only are not enough but given that the number of such cases is still growing rapidly, the state must take actions and stop it, he added.

Naveed Walter said, the cases of abductions, forced conversions, forced marriages and violence and religious persecution are growing as like, Waqar Masih attacked and wounded, Dia Iftikhar abducted, converted and forcibly married while Attia Bibi was successful to escape from abduction, and that is rare, he added.

Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP) is highly concerned about recent cases such as the attacking of the house of Azra Perveen, a Christian nurse in Khanewal, on 23 September 2024, by Arshad Khan and Sardar Baloch. On 20 September 2024 Imran Masih was subjected to severe physical violence by Rana Irfan and Rana Kashif in Mahluwal Sheikhpura. On 16 September 2024 Javaid Masih and his wife Shakeela Bibi and son Haroon Masih were abducted by Muhammad Saif is the owner of a brick kiln in Sheikhupura. On 9 September 2024, Shahbaz Masih was attacked by three men through Yamna Bibi at Circular Road Bahawalnagar. On 6 September 2024 Quranic verses were found on the walls of Holy Trinity Cathedral Karachi, for attempts to attack and possession on Church. On 3 September 2024, police charged Saba Buta, Anita Buta, Jonathan Howard, Adeel Shimoun and Fabian Masih with blasphemy at the railway station in Rawalpindi. On 30 August 2024, a Christian man, Samson Manzoor, was forced by the police to take an oath holding a Bible in his hand to prove that the items in his home were indeed stolen by unidentified persons. On 29 August 2024, a pregnant Christian woman, Samira, received unfair treatment at Kacha Khoh Mian Chanu Hospital and she died. On 26 August 2024 Tabish Shahid and Kalu Shahid accused of blasphemy at Baba Raunq Shah's Mela Kasur. On 25 August 2024 daughter of Taj Masih gang raped by Muhammad Asif, Nazeer Ahmad, Muhammad Yasir and Muhammad Aslam in Bahawalpur. On 23 August 2024, a Christian girl, Dia Aslam, was abducted, forcefully converted and forcefully married by Bilal Hakeem in the factory area of Lahore. On 18 August 2024, an Ahmadiyya man, Owais Ahmed, was accused of blasphemy by Mohammad Imran in Naduke Narwal. On 23 July 2024, Neha Javaid and Sneha Javaid were abducted, forcefully converted and forcefully married by Muhammad Zain and Muhammad Ali in Kasur. On 26 June 2024 Warda Emmanuel was abducted, forcefully converted and forcefully married in Faisalabad.

Naveed Walter said that as on 20 September 2024 a well-known Muslim cleric Mufti Tariq Masood was also accused of blasphemy for his video’s content, that makes blasphemy issues as serious as debatable. While many other Muslims has also been accused of blasphemy and similarly attacked, as on 11 September 2024, Abdul Ali alias Lala was arrested by police from the Khorot police station in Quetta on charges of blasphemy and was shot dead by police officer Constable Saeed Khan. Similarly, incidents such as the one on 17 September 2024, when Shahnawaz Kunbhar was accused of blasphemy in Umarkot, Mirpurkhas Sindri, where police opened fire on Shahnawaz and killed him, make the matter more worrying, added Naveed Walter. 

HRFP has been actively monitoring, raising and responding to these urgent human rights violations in Pakistan, including false blasphemy accusations, abductions, forced conversion and forced marriages of minority girls, desecrations of religious beliefs, and physical violence targeting minorities and other cases.

HRFP has been actively monitoring, raising and responding to these urgent human rights violations in Pakistan since established in 1994, including false blasphemy accusations, abductions, forced conversion and forced marriages of minority girls, desecrations of religious beliefs, and physical violence targeting minorities and other cases.