Young Christian Student Ashbeel
When a teenager can be arrested and charged with a criminal offense punishable by death for discussing religion with a classmate, democracy is in grave decline. The health of democracy in Pakistan has been failing for some time, but this most recent case of blasphemy indicates an urgent need for intervention on all levels of government and society.
It started as a seemingly innocent discussion between two classmates, Sheraz, a Muslim, and Ashbeel, a Christian. They had studied together from grades four through ten at City School, a private educational institution. In a WhatsApp chat a conversation was held in which both friends spoke about the good in their religion. As the conversation progressed, Ashbeel said “My God and your God could be different from each other” and “The God of Islam is not mine”.
In January 2024, Sheraz went to the local city police station to complain that Ashbeel had a strong debate on a sensitive matter of Islam. The case was registered against Ashbeel under 295A, for insulting the Holy Prophet Mohammad, with the contents of the above conversation as the basis of the complaint.
Ashbeel went to school as usual. The school principal sent Ashbeel home to avoid Ashbeel’s arrest at school. Later, the police came to the school and Ashbeel was brought from home to school to be arrested.
This case has disrupted the entire family, and they urgently need to be relocated for their safety. The father is terrified and feels deeply insecure at his job, where he says he has had a lot of pressure from colleagues to convert to Islam. He was told that many Christians in the surrounding areas are accepting Islam. There is a strong Islamic group, Tareek-e-Labback, Pakistan, that defends the blasphemy laws.
The identity card of Sheraz, issued by the National Data Base Authority (NADRA), was found by the local police to be fake and was also expired. No one from the complainant side appeared for the court hearing on March 13, 2024.
Ms. Shireen Aslam, a local activist and member of the interfaith Peace Committee, said that this police report could have easily been avoided, and the conflict settled by the school principal. This incident unnecessarily stirs up religious tension, conflict, and insecurity for everyone.
Ms. Aslam says “There is a huge need to work on co-existence and tolerance to bring Christianity and Islam together on one page. The marginalized communities suffer having tension between two faiths. The false accusations of blasphemy are repeatedly used and the family, the whole community and the country suffer unrest, hate and discrimination due to this type of incident”.
Upon getting bail for Ashbeel, the family locked their house and went to stay with friends. The day Ashbeel was released by the court, the family witnessed a crowd of people gathered in front of their house. The local police then drove Ashbeel to an undisclosed location for his safety. The family is still living in this location, and desires to be moved to a safe place.
Nadeem Bhatti, along with a local activist, Ms. Aslam, met with and appealed to the District Police Office for the family’s safety.