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Pakistan: Christians and Muslims Join Forces to Save Boy from Blasphemy Charges

  • Veronica Neffinger

    Veronica Neffinger wrote her first poem at age seven and went on to study English in college, focusing on 18th century literature. When she is not listening to baseball games, enjoying the…

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  • Updated Oct 26, 2016

A group of Christians and Muslims has worked together to get the Pakistani government to drop blasphemy charges brought against a nine-year-old Christian Pakistani boy.

ChristianToday.com reports that the boy, named Izhan, along with his mother, Shakil, were accused of burning pages of the Quran.

The police were summoned and Izhan and Shakil were imprisoned.

Members of the community,both Christians and Muslims, began protests for Izhan and Shakil’s release.

The political party Jamait Ulema Islam took the initiative in working to free the boy and his mother.

The Pakistan Christian Post noted, "Credit goes to the local leadership of Jamiat Ulema Islam which played a tremendous role."

Blasphemy charges are common in Pakistan and are sometimes brought against minors, as in Izhan’s case. There have also been cases of Muslims accusing Christians of blasphemy for no valid reason.

In one case, a 13-year-old Christian Pakistani girl was accused of blasphemy by her teacher for misspelling.

Nasir Saeed, the director of CLAAS-UK, a Christian ministry dedicated to helping persecuted Christians in Pakistan, stated, "He [Izhan] may have never have even heard the word of blasphemy. Unfortunately, this is the worst example of hatred and intolerance against Christians and treatment towards them in Pakistan.”

Saeed went on to urge the Pakistani government to take action to stop the misuse of the blasphemy laws.

 

Publication date: October 26, 2016