Please pray for Christians in Pakistan – World Watch List #14

Peanut Gallery: Persecuted Church in Pakistan – World Watch List #14

Discrimination impacts all aspects of daily life. Opening a new church building is virtually impossible and emigration of Christians continues unabated. The Christian community is very vulnerable and sexual assaults on underage Christian girls by Muslim men continue to be reported.

PAKISTAN
Population: 180 million (5.3 million Christians)
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Islamic Republic
Source of Persecution: Islamic extremism/Dictatorial paranoia/Organised corruption

Christians are caught between Islamic militant organisations, an Islamising culture and a weak government with a military complicit in fuelling Islamic militants. The Rimsha Masih case prompted a debate on blasphemy laws, but others still face charges and extremist groups continue to incite hatred for Christians. Many Christians are uneducated manual workers who suffer unfair treatment from employers. Muslim men continue to sexually assault underage Christian girls. Opening a new church building is virtually impossible and emigration of Christians continues.

PLEASE PRAY:

• Praise God that the laws of Pakistan give Christians considerable freedom to run established churches
• Give thanks that the Christian population is growing and a steady but significant trickle of Muslims are joining churches
• For imprisoned Christian Asia Bibi, sentenced to death on blasphemy charges.

PERSECUTION DYNAMICS

Persecution has been in evidence in Pakistan for many years and the country is set to surpass Indonesia as the world’s largest Muslim population by 2030. Christians account for 2.5 per cent of the population.

In 2012 the case of Rimsha Masih, who was accused of having desecrated the Qu’ran, gained international attention. After three months in detention she was finally released in September and later exonerated of all charges. The case prompted a debate on how blasphemy laws are misused to target innocent people. Extremist groups continue to incite hatred for Christians: at the time Rimsha was released, other Christians were facing blasphemy charges.

Discrimination impacts all aspects of daily life. Opening a new church building is virtually impossible and emigration of Christians continues unabated. The Christian community is very vulnerable and sexual assaults on underage Christian girls by Muslim men continue to be reported. Many Christians are uneducated manual workers who suffer unfair treatment from employers. There is, however, freedom to run established churches and the Christian population is slowly growing. Despite this, society neglects the Christian minority. Extremist views may well gain popularity in the coming elections, to the disadvantage of minorities.