KARACHI: Scores of people belonging to the Christian community and members of the civil society staged a protest demonstration in front of the Karachi Press Club (KPC) against the death sentence handed down to a Christian youth by an antiterrorism court in Punjab in a blasphemy case.

Sahiwal ATC Special Judge Ziaullah Khan had sentenced the young accused to death on charges of circulating a social media post that led to riots in the town of Jaranwala in August last year.

Dozens of Christian homes and around 20 churches were vandalised and ransacked by mobs in Jaranwala following allegations that a copy of the Holy Quran had been desecrated.

On Tuesday, scores of demonstrators, including women, gathered outside the KPC to decry what they called the “misuse of blasphemy laws”.

The participants in the demonstration include representatives of the Christian community, Minority Rights March, Aurat March and civil society.

They were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans like “Stop misuse of blasphemy law”, “Pakistan is the Israel to religious minorities” and death sentence for those who burned churches, etc.

Talking to AFP, Christian pastor Ghazala Shafiq said: “Day by day, Pakistan is becoming a country where minorities aren’t safe anymore. People can do whatever they want to do with us.”

“The people responsible for the riots in Jaranwala are still awaiting trial, while my client has already been given the death sentence. It was the speeches from the mosques that instigated the riots, not this post on social media,” said convict’s lawyer Akmal Bhatti.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2024