In Depth:  Pakistan

Iain Taylor

UK groups supporting Christians in Pakistan have welcomed the election of Anthony Naveed as the first Christian Deputy Speaker of the Sindh Provincial Assembly, in the south of Pakistan. Naveed is the only Christian selected for a reserved seat for minorities in the Assembly by the progressive Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) following the recent general election.

Juliet Chaudhury of the British Asian Christian Association said: ‘Naveed’s election, representing Sind’s Christian minority of approximately 400,000 people, is a significant achievement amidst stiff competition from the influential Hindu minority. It positions him as the third most powerful decision-maker in the province.

Iain Taylor

In what has been described as an exciting and unprecedented move, the Pakistan Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MoFE&PT) has approved a new Religious Education Curriculum 2023 for grades 1–12. The decision, which abolishes the necessity for Christians and other minorities to study Islam, heralds a major shift in national educational policy.

The new curriculum for non-Muslim students includes comprehensive teachings from seven religions: Bahai, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Kalasha, Sikhism, and Zoroastrianism. It acknowledges and celebrates Pakistan’s religious diversity and seeks to foster a broader understanding and respect for various religious beliefs.

Iain Taylor

Authorities in Islamabad, Pakistan have bulldozed 115 houses of Christian slum dwellers – whilst leaving the homes of nearby Muslim residents untouched. The victims are mainly deprived sewage, drainage and domestic cleaning workers.

Without warning the Christians, who had been preparing to go to work, were faced with teams of men with pickaxes, mallets and a steady stream of bulldozers and cranes, intent on destroying the homes that had been built by their occupants with cement and breeze-blocks. The families are now forced to live in tents, and other makeshift structures, with minimal insulation, through the bitterly cold Islamabad winter.

Iain Taylor

Severe flooding in Pakistan has affected 33 million people and caused well over 1,000 deaths, according to the National Disaster Management Agency. More than a quarter of a million people are in shelters, one-third of the country is under water, and damaged infrastructure is hampering aid and rescue operations. Some experts say the flood water could remain for months and crops fail for up to two years.

Evangelicals Now has been granted an exclusive interview with Juliet Chowdhry of the British Asian Christian Association (BACA), an advocacy and community relations organisation now actively involved in the relief work.

Muslim colleagues have accused two Christian nurses in Pakistan of committing ‘blasphemy’ by removing a sticker that had a Qur’anic text written on it.

The nurse removed the sticker while cleaning the head nurse’s cupboard and gave it to the head nurse before finishing her night shift. The following morning the head nurse accused her of desecrating the inscription.

Covid-19 forced farmers away from their fields in the southern province of Sindh, but it did not stop rural evangelists from spreading the gospel of life.

In fact, villagers had far more time on their hands than they knew what to do with and gladly listened to the visiting preachers. Twenty-five people were baptised through this work and many more have believed and are waiting for the chance to be baptised.

A Pakistani Christian has died from his injuries after being shot several times by his neighbour in June. Nadeem Joseph and his mother-in-law Elizabeth Masih were shot in their new home, just days after the family moved into TV Colony, Peshawar. Mr Joseph succumbed to his injuries despite undergoing surgery five times.

The attackers have been identified as Salman Khan and his sons, who live opposite the Christian family. According to a local source, Mr Khan became unhappy when he found out that the Christian family had moved into the neighbourhood and began a campaign of daily harassment against the family. Mr Khan repeatedly demanded that Mr Joseph and his family vacate the neighbourhood, telling Mr Joseph that Christians cannot live in a Muslim area. He threatened to kill them on a daily basis.

An ancient marble cross, thought to be as much as 1,200 years old, was discovered in the foothills of the Karakoram mountain range in the heart of the Himalayas, providing evidence for Christianity’s early arrival in northern Pakistan from the Middle East.

Three researchers from the University of Baltistan found the 2.1m x 1.8m cross near their base camp in the predominantly Muslim region bordering with China, Afghanistan and India. It is estimated to weigh around four tonnes.

A Christian girl was killed in January after she and two friends shrugged off the advances of young drunken Muslim men from one of the elite areas of Lahore, Defence Colony.

Kiran (17), Shamroza (18) and Sumble (20) were walking home after a hard day’s work, on their way to their deprived Christian community in Baowala. They had set off at 9 pm on 13 January to get home quickly before it got too unsafe. However, they were accosted by four allegedly drunk Muslims in a car, who harassed them to get into the car for ‘a ride and some fun’.