A Christian man in Pakistan’s Punjab province, who allegedly watched anti-Islamic lectures on his mobile phone, has been accused of blasphemy, forcing him and his family to flee from their village.
Imran Masih, a sweeper in a health centre in Mandi Bahauddin, 250 kilometers from Lahore, and his family members fled from their village to save their lives after being accused of blasphemy. Aslam Pervaiz Sahotra, a Christian leader and chairman of Human Liberation Commission Pakistan said.
“Tension is rising in the area where some 25 Christian families are residing and they are feeling vulnerable. We have requested the police to provide security to all the Christian families,” he said, adding that Iftikhar, a colleague of Imran Masih had watched a blasphemous video clip on his cell phone.
He said that Mr Iftikhar was among other Muslims who subjected him to severe torture. The local cleric declared Mr Masih a blasphemer, following which he had to flee along with his family members to save their lives, Mr Sahotra said and added that the other members of Christian community in the village are also facing threats.
Police chief of Mandi Bahauddin Raja Basharat, however, said the situation in the area is under control. “Police personnel have been deployed in the village to stop any untoward incident,” he said adding that the police had not registered a blasphemy case against Mr Masih.
“We have asked complainants to first present the cell phone of Mr Masih. A case cannot be registered without examining the ’blasphemous’ clip‘, he said.
Blasphemy carries the death penalty and is an extremely sensitive issue in Pakistan, where people, generally from the minority community, have been targeted under the controversial law.
