by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – As Christians in Punjab Province, Pakistan, continue to face intense violent persecution from Islamic extremists, a Christian father of three was arrested on November 3 and jailed pending trial for blasphemy, Morning Star News reports.
Zafar Iqbal Ward of No. 12 of Kahna in Lahore, Punjab Province, was arrested after three local Muslims accused him of setting fire to pages of the Quran near his house. Iqbal is the most recent in an extending line of Christians who have been arrested for allegedly defacing Quranic pages.
Iqbal has been charged under Section 295-B of Pakistan’s anti-blasphemy law, which carries a life sentence for defacing the Quran.
Pakistani rights activist Napolean Qayyum told MSN: “Iqbal is now in prison on judicial remand, while his family has gone into hiding and are inaccessible.”
In a website statement about the situation facing Pakistani Christians, the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization reports: “Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws are often used to target minority groups, but Christians are disproportionately affected. Indeed, roughly a quarter of all blasphemy accusations target Christians, who only make up 1.8% of the population.”
Ruled by an Islamic government that promotes harsh blasphemy laws, Pakistan ranks seventh on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel remains in constant coordination with the United States regarding Iran, emphasizing that there are “no surprises” between Jerusalem and Washington as reports swirl about a possible U.S.-Iran agreement aimed at ending the war before fully dismantling Tehran’s nuclear program.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is targeting multiple seats in Congress to take back the Democratic majority in November.
A tense calm returned Monday to a lakeside park in the U.S. state of Oklahoma after a shooting at a crowded outdoor party left nearly two dozen people injured, including several in critical condition, authorities said.
At least five people were killed and 37 others injured in renewed Russian strikes on Ukraine, officials said, as tensions escalated further with what Moscow authorities described as a Ukrainian drone attack on a residential building in the Russian capital.
Governments and activist groups pursuing legal action against major energy companies faced renewed scrutiny Wednesday after the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) dropped its most extreme forecast projecting 4 to 6 degrees Celsius (7.2 to 10.8 degrees Fahrenheit) of global warming by the year 2100.
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that Washington and Tehran were moving closer to an initial agreement to end the war involving Iran, the United States, and Israel, prompting a sharp rally in global financial markets and a decline in oil prices.
Authorities in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province have halted construction of a Christian prayer house after Muslim residents erected protest banners opposing the project, amid growing pressure on churches in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, Christians said Wednesday.