A huge rally in Pakistan has backed the brutal murder of an elderly Christian accused of blasphemy – and warned others could face the same fate.
2,500 gathered in Sargodha where the murder took place, to show their support for the killing of 74-year-old Nazeer Masih Gil.
The rally, organised by Islamist extremists Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), also protested the arrest of those accused of killing the Christian shoemaker.
According to reports, TLP leader Muhammed Naeem Chattha Qadri demanded of the crowd: ‘Tell me if we were wrong in killing that chuhra who burned the Koran?’ Chuhra is a derogatory term levelled at sanitation workers and Christians.
Threats
Qadri added this warning: ‘Whoever commits blasphemy will meet the same fate.’ He then went on to threaten the police ‘if they attempt to protect the blasphemers.’
On May 25, up to 2,000 extremists responded to an accusation broadcast over mosque loudspeakers that Christian Nazeer Gill had burnt a copy of the Koran on a bonfire.
Nazir’s son tried to reason with the mob, apologising if his father had mistakenly done anything wrong. But the mob would not listen.
They filmed themselves kicking and beating the elderly Christian until he was unconscious and then looting his shoe factory and ransacking his house. They posted the footage on social media.
Police attacked
The same mob stoned police when they tried to intervene, and hurled bricks at the ambulance when it took Nazeer Gill to hospital. He died from his injuries nine days later.
Police had to take the family to a place of safety, to prevent further loss of life. The mob looted their possessions and left the family in a state of deep shock and fear. Nazeer’s widow, who is in her 70s, was so traumatised she was unable to speak.
Nazeer’s son, Sultan, believed the attack was motivated not by blasphemy, but by jealousy. His father’s business was flourishing and had endured many attempts to close them down. ‘This time,’ Sultan told Morning Star News, ‘they misused religion to persecute us.’
‘Calculated assault’
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan was scathing about the incident. It described the mob attack as a ‘calculated assault, manipulated through religious fervour’.
They say what began as a dispute between neighbours led to a cry of blasphemy from mosque loudspeakers, which ended in murder.
On June 8, church leaders and others called on the Provincial Assembly in Lahore to demand justice over the lynching. Others have called for a judicial inquiry into religiously motivated violence. There have also been calls for a ban on extremist groups who use the blasphemy laws as a pretext for violence, and for a new law criminalising false blasphemy allegations.
UK-based Release International, which supports persecuted Christians worldwide, is calling for the repeal of the blasphemy laws.
Repeal the law
Says CEO Paul Robinson: ‘This law is disproportionately used against Christians. Those accused, along with their families and their communities, face violence and murder at the hands of vigilantes. As the number of unjustified attacks against Christians grows, it is becoming ever more urgent to repeal this law immediately.
‘The President of the Church of Pakistan, Bishop Azad Marshall, has asked the crucial question the authorities in Pakistan must answer: “Where will this stop?”’
This latest claim of blasphemy in Sargodha is reportedly the ninth to be made in the community since 2023. In the same province of Punjab in August, a mob attacked a Christian colony in Jaranwala, following blasphemy accusations against Christians. They burned churches and houses. Mercifully, the Christians were able to flee and no-one was killed.
Release International is running an appeal to support Christians around the world who face oppression and violence because of their faith. It features the story of another Christian in Pakistan who suffered false allegations. https://releaseinternational.org/campaign/avidan/
RI is active in some 30 countries. It works through partners to prayerfully, pastorally, and practically support the families of Christian martyrs, prisoners of faith and their families. It also supports Christians suffering oppression and violence, and those forced to flee.
