Post by Daniel on Mar 3, 2018 9:51:52 GMT -5
Christians Face Violent Persecution as Nearly 1,000 Christian Families Flee for Their Lives in Pakistan
By ACLJ.org
Imagine a child being sentenced to die for a Facebook post.
We parents constantly caution our children, particularly teens, about what they post on Facebook and other social media. We never imagine it could lead to a child’s execution. For Christians living in Pakistan it can turn into a real life horror story.
On February 20, 2018, at least 800 families fled a Christian neighborhood near Lahore, Pakistan following the arrest of a 20-year-old Christian man, Patras Masih, who was accused of posting allegedly blasphemous material on Facebook over a month before.
Our international affiliate, the European Centre for Law and Justice’s (ECLJ) office in Pakistan, the Organization for Legal Aid (OLA), went to Shahadra, Lahore, after hearing of the incident. They spoke to the local police Station House Officer (SHO), who said that Patras Masih was in police custody, and that it would be best if the local Christians did not return to their homes for two or three days until the situation had cooled down. The Head Constable told us that, according to the allegation, Patras had posted a picture on Facebook putting a mosque under his feet.
A Pakistani daily reported that on February 19 a mob set tires on fire and blocked part of a main road in Lahore, home to the largest population of Christians in Pakistan, demanding that Patras be publicly hanged for disrespecting the prophet Muhammad. A local pastor told World Watch Monitor that several men in the gathering demanded that Patras Masih be delivered to them. Gas cans in hand, they threatened to set the neighborhood on fire if the mob’s demands were not complied with. Consequently, over 800 families fled the neighborhood where the mob gathered.
more
aclj.org/persecuted-church/christians-face-violent-persecution-as-nearly-1000-christian-families-flee-for-their-lives-in-pakistan
By ACLJ.org
Imagine a child being sentenced to die for a Facebook post.
We parents constantly caution our children, particularly teens, about what they post on Facebook and other social media. We never imagine it could lead to a child’s execution. For Christians living in Pakistan it can turn into a real life horror story.
On February 20, 2018, at least 800 families fled a Christian neighborhood near Lahore, Pakistan following the arrest of a 20-year-old Christian man, Patras Masih, who was accused of posting allegedly blasphemous material on Facebook over a month before.
Our international affiliate, the European Centre for Law and Justice’s (ECLJ) office in Pakistan, the Organization for Legal Aid (OLA), went to Shahadra, Lahore, after hearing of the incident. They spoke to the local police Station House Officer (SHO), who said that Patras Masih was in police custody, and that it would be best if the local Christians did not return to their homes for two or three days until the situation had cooled down. The Head Constable told us that, according to the allegation, Patras had posted a picture on Facebook putting a mosque under his feet.
A Pakistani daily reported that on February 19 a mob set tires on fire and blocked part of a main road in Lahore, home to the largest population of Christians in Pakistan, demanding that Patras be publicly hanged for disrespecting the prophet Muhammad. A local pastor told World Watch Monitor that several men in the gathering demanded that Patras Masih be delivered to them. Gas cans in hand, they threatened to set the neighborhood on fire if the mob’s demands were not complied with. Consequently, over 800 families fled the neighborhood where the mob gathered.
more
aclj.org/persecuted-church/christians-face-violent-persecution-as-nearly-1000-christian-families-flee-for-their-lives-in-pakistan
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