Christians make up between 2 and 3% of the population of Pakistan. Conditions for our Pakistani brothers and sisters show little sign of improving as they strive to live for Christ in the vast Muslim-majority nation. In this article we outline four major challenges Christians in Pakistan face, and how Barnabas Aid is responding to their needs.
One of the 100 families freed from bonded labour in Pakistan’s brick kilns in the most recent phase of Barnabas Aid’s loan clearance project
The “blasphemy” law in Pakistan
Many Christians and other religious minorities, as well as Muslims, have fallen foul of Pakistan’s notorious “blasphemy” laws. A mandatory death sentence is imposed for those convicted under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which refers to defiling the name of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam (although this sentence has never yet been carried out). In January 2023 “blasphemy” laws were even tightened with the punishment for insulting the family of Muhammad increased from 3 to 10 years in prison.
The “blasphemy” laws are often used to make false accusations to settle personal grudges. Christians are particularly vulnerable, as merely expressing some of their beliefs can be construed as “blasphemy” and the lower courts usually favour the testimony of Muslims, in accordance with sharia (Islamic law). Such accusations can often lead to mob violence. In August 2023 the alleged discovery of desecrated pages of the Quran stirred up a mob to rampage through the Christian area of Jaranwala city. They burned at least 24 church buildings and several dozen smaller chapels, as well as attacking the homes of more than 100 believers.
Higher courts sometimes overturn lower courts’ convictions. Brothers Umar (Rocky) and Umair (Raja) Saleem, both Christians, were acquitted in February 2024 of “blasphemy” charges that sparked the Jaranwala riots after it emerged that they had been falsely implicated by two Muslim men with a grudge against them. Those accused of “blasphemy” often suffer extra-judicial violence instead – for example, a Christian man in his 70s was beaten and stoned by a mob of extremists in Sargodha city in May 2024, following unsubstantiated allegations that he had desecrated a Quran, and he later died of his injuries.
Abductions and forced conversions target Christian women and girls
Christian girls and young women are vulnerable to being abducted by Muslim men and forced to marry their captors and convert to Islam. These “conversions” are often secured under a threat of violence to the victims and their families, but the authorities rarely intervene.
Among numerous cases of violence against women, in September 2023 the Islamabad Sessions Court sentenced Muhammad Shahzad to 25 years’ imprisonment (considered a life term under the Pakistan Penal Code) for the murder of Sonia Bibi. Sonia died in November 2020 after being shot by Shahzad on an Islamabad street for refusing his persistent marriage proposal.
Christian women and girls in Pakistan are vulnerable to being abducted, then forced to convert to Islam and marry Muslim men
Sunita Munawar, 19, was hospitalised with severe burns after a Muslim man, Kamran Allah Bux, threw acid on her while she was getting off a bus in Karachi in February 2023. Bux admitted his crime, saying that he threw acid at Sunita for rejecting his proposal that she convert to Islam and marry him. Sunita’s family’s previous complaints to police about Bux’s unwanted advances had been ignored.
Social and economic marginalisation of Christians in Pakistan
Discrimination towards Christians and other minorities perpetuates extreme poverty. Most Christians work in low-paid, dirty and dangerous jobs such as working in sewers, street sweeping or cleaning latrines. Christians in Pakistan continue to be regarded as “chura” (an offensive term that has come to mean “filthy”) as cleaning jobs are considered impure for Muslims. The word chura is derived from the name of the low-caste group from which most of the Christian population in Pakistan is descended.
Christians currently make up 90% of sanitation workers in Faisalabad, where cousins Asif Masih, 25, and Shan Masih, 28, suffocated in March 2024 after inhaling poisonous gases while attempting to clear a blockage in the sewer in the city. They were ordered to enter the sewer without being provided with the recommended protective equipment.
Marginalised Christians make up 90% of sanitation workers in Faisalabad [Image credit: AsiaNews]
Thousands of Christians are employed as low-paid workers in Pakistan’s brick kilns. When faced with an emergency or illness, their only option is to take a loan from the brick kiln owner. These debts then keep them bonded to the brick kiln until the debt is paid. They cannot pay off their debt, as money is deducted from their wages to pay the interest. Debts are frequently passed on to the next generation.
Violence and insecurity in Pakistan
Pakistan is a country beset with security concerns as terrorist groups are active, especially on the borders with Iran and Afghanistan. Life is especially precarious for Christians in these border regions.
Tensions have been escalating between Pakistan and Afghanistan since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021. Pakistan alleges that a faction of the Taliban, the Pakistani Taliban or Tehrik-e Taliban (TTP), is being sheltered in Afghanistan. The TTP aim to replace Pakistan’s present government with one more fully based on sharia. Despite repeated Pakistani airstrikes on the TTP’s alleged hideouts inside Afghanistan and ongoing diplomatic pressure, the Taliban has not taken action to rein in the group, as Islamabad has persistently demanded.
The threat to security is also posed by an armed separatist group, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). Balochistan, in the south-west, is the largest of Pakistan’s four provinces, but the least populated of Pakistan’s provinces and the most impoverished. In August 2024, the BLA claimed responsibility for a series of attacks across Balochistan in which more than 70 people – including 23 civilians – were reported killed and vital infrastructure was damaged. Two Christians were among at least 26 people who were killed in November 2024 by a BLA suicide bomber at the railway station in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan.
How Barnabas Aid is helping Christians in Pakistan
Barnabas Aid is making a difference to the lives of Christians in Pakistan through local partners in multiple projects.
A brick kiln worker receives a check-up from a Barnabas-funded mobile health clinic
We fund Christian schools that help hundreds of Christian children get the start in life that they would otherwise go without. Christian children who do attend free state-run schools can suffer discrimination for their faith – bullying from their peers and teachers, being marked down in tests and exams, and pressure to convert to Islam. Now many are receiving a wholesome education where they are taught about their Christian faith alongside their academic study.
We have also funded hospitals and clinics that serve poor Christian communities. Christians in impoverished rural areas are further supported by our feeding programme.
In November 2024 we freed another 100 families from bonded labour in Pakistan’s brick kilns, marking phase 23 of our ongoing loan clearance project.
Whatever challenges Pakistan may face in the years ahead, with the help of our generous supporters, we are privileged to be a part of transforming the lives of our Christian family and making a positive impact on the country.
