PESHAWAR: Christians on Saturday expressed concern about the killing of a couple from their community in Lahore over the alleged blasphemy and demanded exemplary punishment for the culpable.

They also urged the government to ensure the immediate end to the misuse of blasphemy law.

Accompanied by leaders of Christian community, including Stephen Joseph, Ayaz Bhatti and Stephen Samuel, Bishop of Peshawar Munawar Rumal Shah told a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club that the vested interests had long been misusing blasphemy law against the Christian community with impunity and thus, causing interfaith tensions in the country.

He said the recent killing of a Christian couple by a mob in Kot Radha Kishan of Kasur district on a blasphemy charge was the worst king of brutality.

Christians perturped at the killing of couple in Kasur

“Besides bringing the killers (of the couple) to justice, the government should also ensure end to the misuse of blasphemy law,” he said.

The bishop complained the Punjab and federal governments had failed to bring to justice the people behind attacks against Christians in Gojra, Badami Bagh and other cities on blasphemy charge.

“All incidents of violence against our community in the name of blasphemy took place in Punjab but no one has been punished so far. We wish to know who is to protect us against attacks over the alleged blasphemy,” he said.

The bishop claimed Bible and the places of worship of Christians were desecrated many times in Punjab but the provincial government didn’t act against the culprits.

He declared the killing of a Christian couple over blasphemy extremely unfortunate and a black day in the country’s history and said it would be a challenge for the Punjab government to award punishment to the culprits.

“We’ve never seen such a brutal killing in the country. It’s an insult to humanity,” he said.

Rumal Shah said Christians respected all religions and creeds, so it was their right to expect the same conduct from members of other faiths towards Christianity.

He said instead of resorting to rhetoric, the government should ensure that followers of all faiths, especially Christians, live their lives fearlessly.

Also in the day, Minority Lawyers Wing head and member of Christian’s Community Ghulam Shaukat addressed a news conference at the press club to condemn the Christian couple’s killing.

“Please do not burn us in the name of religion. We, too, are Pakistanis. We’re brothers of Muslims and cannot even think of desecrating the holy Quran,” he said.

Shaukat said blasphemy law was being misused against Christians in the country, especially in Punjab and Sindh.

He also said Christians didn’t trust the government probes into killings over alleged blasphemy as they caused culprits to go scot-free by and large.

He demanded that the government effectively ensure end to the misuse of blasphemy laws in the country.

Published in Dawn, November 9th, 2014