Pakistan -Argument over religion: Christian killed in cold blood
February 21, 2013: Roshan Masih, a 45 year old Christian, was shot dead after an
argument over religion in Lahore, capital of Punjab Province. Fides learned that the
episode, on 16 February, brought bewilderment and grief to the local Christian community:
it was an act of murder in cold blood: Roshan’s defence of his Christian beliefs compared
to Muslim beliefs may have been considered ‘blasphemous’. Roshan Masih had converted
from Hinduism to Christianity and about 20 ago settled in Lahore. Days before the
murder he had a heated argument over religion with a local Muslim, Sohail Akhtar.
The latter waited for his opportunity, and, on 16 February, seeing Roshan sitting
outside a shop run by Sadiq Masih, another Christian, Sohail Akhtar, armed with a
rifle, shot him dead there and then.
The case was reported to the “Legal Evangelical
Association Development” (LEAD), which in turn filed an official First Information
Report with the police, accusing Sohail Akhtar of premeditated homicide. The assassin
was arrested and taken into custody by the local police which has undertaken a serious
investigation, after which the case will probably pass to the Legal Courts.
“This
is truly a tragedy: an innocent man is slain for defending his faith in a simple argument.
The episode is emblematic of the conditions of Pakistani Christians. The authorities
have a duty to guarantee the basic rights of Christian minorities”, Fides was told
by lawyer Sardar Mushtaq Gill, of LEAD, the organization which defends and promotes
Pakistan’s religious minority groups.