Protests over the abduction of Arzoo Raja Photo: Aid to the Church in Need Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world. Most people are not aware of this fact, partly because of the lack of media reporting. One country where Christians face continuous persecuted is Pakistan. Christians make up a small minority of Pakistan’s population, around 1-2% of the population. Pakistan has over two hundred million people, which means there are millions of Pakistani Christians. Life can be extremely difficult for these Christians, who face discrimination daily and often fear for their lives.
Recently, one story from Pakistan did manage to break into national and international media. This was the case of Asia Bibi. Asia is a Catholic woman from Punjab in Pakistan. A mother of five, Asia worked as a farm labourer and was married to a local Catholic man. She frequently faced pressure at work to convert to Islam but refused. It was under these circumstances that trumped-up allegations were brought against Asia that she had committed blasphemy. Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are often used against religious minorities. Those found guilty can be sentenced to death.
Asia was brought to trial at a court in Punjab, was found guilty of blasphemy and sentenced to death in 2010.
A mother being sentenced to death over obviously trumped-up charges rightfully caused widespread condemnation abroad and in Pakistan itself. An appeal was lodged. Asia was not without supporters in Pakistan. Most notably these supporters included the Governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer (a Muslim) and the national Religious Minorities Minister, Shahbaz Bhatti (a Catholic). Both men were assassinated in separate incidents in 2011 for the support they gave Asia Bibi. Asia was to spend eight years on death row. Finally, in October 2018, Asia Bibi was acquitted by Pakistan’s Supreme Court. Her ordeal was not over. Mass protests followed the acquittal, demanding that Asia be hung for blasphemy. Asia was forced to go into hiding before she claimed asylum abroad. Asia’s lawyer also had to flee Pakistan after the acquittal.
Unfortunately, Asia Bibi’s case is not particularly unique. There are currently approximately eighty individuals on death row in Pakistan for blasphemy, a disproportionate number of whom are religious minorities including Christians. The legal system in Pakistan is used in other ways to persecute Christians. One of the most distressing trends to emerge in Pakistan in recent years is the kidnapping and forced marriage of teenage girls from religious minorities, including Christian girls. These girls are forced to convert to Islam. This means the courts are far less likely to find in favour of the girl’s family if the case is ever brought to court, as the court will not want the girl to revert to her previous religion and leave Islam. These cases are often decided using Islamic legal principles, using the hadiths as the basis for many decisions. This obviously puts non-Muslims at a disadvantage, even when just considering the fact Christians and Hindus would be unfamiliar with Islamic legal principles.
Over the last year, several of these cases involving Catholic girls have received reasonable attention from Christian news agencies. The first case involved a 14-year-old girl called Maira Shahbaz from Faisalabad in Punjab. In April 2020, Maira was abducted at gunpoint by several armed men. After being taken, Maira was forced to marry one of her captors, Mohamad Nakash. She was also forced into signing a statement that she had converted to Islam. Maira’s family, wishing to have their daughter returned, brought the case to court. The case came to the High Court in Lahore, who found that Maira was lawfully married to her abductor and had converted to Islam. This is obviously shocking and horrifying.
Maira managed to escape from captivity herself. She then rubbished the claims made by her captors. Maira was not voluntarily married; in fact, she was raped. She had also not converted to Islam and had remained steadfast in the Catholic Faith. Maira was forced to go into hiding. Maira took her “husband” to court to try to have the marriage annulled. Her kidnapper did not turn up to court last September. Even if the court case is successful, Maira and her family will likely have to leave Pakistan if they wish to live in safety. Maira will be regarded by many as an apostate from Islam, which will put her life and her family’s lives in danger. Maira is currently in hiding and is under constant police protection.
This is not an isolated case. It is estimated in Pakistan every year that around 1,000 Christian and Hindu women and girls are abducted and in farced into marriages with Muslim men. Another one of these cases that is still ongoing is that of 13-year-old Catholic Arzoo Raja from Karachi. The teenage girl had previously served as an altar server and was kidnapped in October 2020 while playing outside her home. Like in the case of Maira, Arzoo was married to a Muslin man (44-year-old Syed Ali Azhar) and forced to convert to Islam. The family called the police. The police called into Syed Ali Azhar’s home and had a friendly cup of tea with him before calling to the parents’ house. Once there, they immediately asked to see Arzoo’s birth certificate and other documents. It was evident they were not interested in making things any easier for Arzoo’s family. In a more positive development, the family was given support by elected officials both on the state and national level. The case was brought to court, and thankfully the court did declare the marriage to be invalid. It was ordered for Arzoo to be transferred to a shelter. Her alleged conversion to Islam is putting obstacles in her returning home. When her family meet Arzoo, she says that she wants to go home and has not converted to Islam. When in court, Arzoo declares that she is 18 years old and has willingly converted to Islam. She is clearly being pressured in what she says in court and fears what might happen if she tells the court the truth.
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has worked in Pakistan for a long time. Like in other parts of the world, ACN works in partnership with the local Church. In the specific case of Pakistan, ACN works closely with the Catholic bishops’ National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), which works with released Christian prisoners and provides aid to their families. ACN is paying the legal fees in Arzoo’s case and is proving support to her parents, who have lost their jobs because of the case and have also been forced to leave their home (they are currently being provided shelter by a Protestant pastor). ACN is committed not only to the financial support of these families but also to their spiritual support. For these reasons, ACN would ask you all to keep Christians of Pakistan in your prayers and specifically keep Arzoo and her family in your prayers in the coming months.
To read more about ACN Ireland’s work and how you can help, visit: https://www.acnireland.org/donate
This feature is sponsored by Aid to the Church in Need Ireland