Christians Flee for Their Lives after Viral Facebook Post in Pakistan Calls for Burning Christian Homes and Churches

By 

Shaheryar Gill

|
November 9, 2017

2 min read

Persecuted Church

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A young Christian, Sonu Arshad, and his family in Pakistan fled after a Facebook post called for the execution of Arshad and burning Christian homes and churches.

Our international affiliate, the European Centre for Law and Justice’s (ECLJ) office in Pakistan, the Organization for Legal Aid (OLA), went to Arshad’s hometown, Sukheki village. They discovered the Christian homes were locked and vacated.

The Muslim residents of the area told the OLA members that they did not know that anything was wrong until the local police had entered the village earlier.

Our team members then met with the police officer in charge of the local police station, Tahir Hussain. He said that the police took notice after the threatening Facebook post had appeared. The post, containing the logo of Madni TV channel, said that “Pastor” Sonu Arshad was “spreading false teachings.” It demanded death for Arshad and urged Muslims to burn Christian homes and churches.

Hussain also informed the team that he filed charges against unnamed persons for posting the threatening material on Facebook and urged the Christians residents to temporarily leave the village for their safety. Though there were rumors that Muslims might form a mob after Friday prayers, he said that the police were monitoring the village and the situation was under control.

Sub-inspector, Muhammad Awais, and some Muslim village elders told our team that Muslims and Christians of the village were on good terms with each other. They said that they were working toward the safe return of Christian families to their homes.

We request you to keep Arshad, his family, and other Christians of Sukheki village in your prayers, especially for their safe return to their homes and for the police and other Muslims to deal with the situation wisely. We will inform you as we learn of any updates.