Islamabad, Nov 1 (IANS) Paul Bhatti, brother of a murdered Christian human rights activist and former government Minister, has highlighted how the influence of Islamic extremists in Pakistan has increased, and religious minorities fear to stand up for their rights, a report said.
Shahbaz Bhatti became Pakistan's Federal Minister for Minority Affairs in 2008 and was the only Christian in the Cabinet. During his tenure as Minister, he expressed support for Christians who were attacked during the 2009 Gojra riots and for a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan.
Bhatti's support for the rights of Christians resulted in him facing death threats, and he was murdered in 2011, according to a report in Christian Today.
In his address at the launch of a report on persecuted Christians produced by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Paul Bhatti said that many human rights activists after the murder of Shahbaz Bhatti have become silent as they fear extremists might target them.
"In the years since (Shahbaz Bhatti's) martyrdom, many human rights and religious freedom advocates have fallen silent out of fear that extremists might target them. As a result, religious minorities have continued to face persecution, including the misuse of blasphemy laws, abductions, forced conversion and forced marriages," Christian Today quoted Paul Bhatti as saying.
"We urgently need to raise awareness of the reality of persecution of Christians and other religious minorities around the world today," he added.
Paul Bhatti demanded a British Parliamentary probe into the treatment of religious minorities in the world, led by either the Foreign Affairs Select Committee or the Joint Committee on Human Rights.
In October, more than 35 Christian families fled their homes in Pakistan's Punjab province after a Muslim mob set fire to a Christian man's house and shop following blasphemy accusations against him, amid fears of further violence, a report has highlighted, citing sources.
According to a report in Christian Daily International-Morning Star News, dozens of Muslims assembled outside Kamran Masih’s shop and adjacent home to protest, before some members of the crowd set the two buildings on fire.
The report said that the police arrested Masih, a 40-year-old father of three who ran a small pharmacy in Gharial Kalan village in Punjab's Sheikhupura district, after local Muslims accused him of sharing a blasphemous video in WhatsApp groups.
"As word of Masih's arrest spread, his family and other Christians started fleeing the village, fearing a mob attack," a source told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News on condition of anonymity.
Referring to Masih's relatives and other sources, the report said it was unclear which provisions of Pakistan's blasphemy laws had been invoked against him.
Human rights organisations and legal experts have repeatedly criticised Pakistan's blasphemy laws, warning that they are susceptible to misuse in personal feuds and other disputes and have disproportionately affected religious minorities.
--IANS
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