Shagufta Kausar and her husband Shafqat Emmanuel Masih are illiterate, and so they couldn’t have sent the text messages that got them imprisoned for seven years and sentenced to death for blasphemy. But the mob is baying for their blood anyway. In Pakistan, even an accusation of blasphemy is enough to destroy one’s life utterly.
“PAKISTAN: Extremists accused of ‘inciting’ millions to hunt down Shagufta and Shafqat,” by John Pontifex, Aid to the Church in Need, June 11, 2021:
Islamists from leading religious parties in Pakistan stand accused of inciting millions to kill a Christian couple and their lawyer.
Saif ul Malook, who last week triumphed in the case of Shagufta Kausar and her husband Shafqat Emmanuel Masih, said influential Muslim hardliners have taken to social media to call on supporters to “conquer [i.e. kill]” both him and the couple.
Speaking today (Friday, 11th June) under tight security from Pakistan, Mr ul Malook told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which campaigns for persecuted Christians, that he stood accused of “collaborating” with blasphemers, a capital offence for Islamists.
Mr ul Malook was acting for the couple on 3rd June when Lahore High Court overturned a 2014 judgement which found them guilty in connection with text messages allegedly disrespectful to the Muslim Prophet Mohammad and in breach of Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws.
He said since last week’s acquittal the couple’s joy has turned to fear amid growing fears for their lives, a threat, he said, that was likely to grow in the coming days as the as yet unconfirmed date of their release from jail grows near.
Mr ul Malook said: “The messages in Urdu language on Twitter and other social media are very clear: Saif ul Malook, Shagufta and Shafqat should be killed. They need to be eliminated. It is very dangerous.”
He added: “These messages from very influential Islamists belonging to religious parties are prompting ordinary people – millions of them – telling them that they will go to paradise if they kill me, Shagufta and Shafqat. For poor people, who are uneducated, this is a very big incentive.”…
Mr ul Malook said he is also being targeted as he had acted in the case of Asia Bibi, another Christian, whose blasphemy conviction was also overturned on appeal, sparking countrywide demonstrations….
He added that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government was unlikely to increase protection for him and the couple, as, in his view, the regime is heavily dependent on support from voters with hard-line religious views.
Refuting claims of disloyalty to Islam, Mr ul Malook added: “I love the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) in the same way the other Muslims do but acting in cases of Christians who are accused of blasphemy is my legal, constitutional and Islamic duty.”
“Our faith as Muslims teaches us that if we kill one innocent person we have killed the whole of humanity and what I am doing is in no way against the teachings of Islam.”
Kagman says
The outrages of Islam are without end. These people, the people as a whole, are savages…. Absolute denizens of some perpetual dark age. And how many do we have living here? How many has the Obama administration let in… And how many do the current Obama administration plan to let in.
These people have no business living among the civilized.
notoislam says
Yes, You are correct on all accounts! Those who follow the SHAIRHA are into a mental state of special insanity that dictates for them to kill any and all not following the Koran’s sharia law.
All who follow the shariah deserve to be put down so that those who are infidels may live in peace.
john smith says
Mr ul Malook may well claim himself to be a muslim but I’m not so sure, If he is a muslim then he is not a very good one. Once again this man has put his own life in danger to protect the lives of these persecuted Christians, of which he had absolutely no need to do.
We all saw those blood thirsty savages out in their hundreds of thousands, baying for the blood of little Asia Bibi, it’s a sight i’ll never forget.
I judge a person by their actions, and Mr ul Malook’s actions are that of a decent compassionate human being.
gravenimage says
Agree, John. As brave ex-Muslim Bosch Fawstin says, there are Muslims who are better than their religion.
Beneath the Veil of Consciousness says
Everything I needed to know about Islam I learned on 9/11.
Keith O says
In a civilised society it is incomprehensible that, 1. this couple should have been convicted in the first place.
2. It took 7 years in ail for something to get done & 3. The so called leaders of this cess pool are now calling for their murder.
This all simply proves that their is no rule of law in Pakistan nor any other Islamic country.
SAFI says
All islamic societies tend to be unjust but Pakistan seems to be way, way, way worse than most… The West ought to have completely cut ties with this disgusting regime. Sanction these bastards now!
gravenimage says
Pakistan: Muslims call for murder of Christians falsely accused of blasphemy and acquitted after 7 years in prison
……………….
Just horrifying–these poor people. This is *very* common in Pakistan. Many Christians–even those exonerated–are then murdered by the Muslim mob, sometimes right on the courthouse steps. This almost happened to Asia Bibi–she had to be smuggled out of the country.
OLD GUY says
If we are not careful with our immigration and open border policy of Biden/Harris we too could be subjected to the islamic ideologies in our own neighborhoods. These islamic migrants don’t become part of our society they want to it take over and force us to become islamic or become slaves to them.
john smith says
Yes Gravenimage, and another brave ex-muslim who I admire immensely (who incidentally says the same as Bosch) is Mossab Hassan Yousef. I’m sure you will be familiar with him, as his father was a leader of Hamas, and he spoke on Israels behalf a few years ago at the UN.
gravenimage says
Agreed, John. He is perhaps better known as “Son of Hamas”. A *very* brave man.