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
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s newly announced 15% global import tariff is expected to take effect sometime this week as the administration moves to rebuild its tariff framework after a recent Supreme Court ruling struck down part of the president’s trade agenda.
President Donald Trump met Wednesday with leaders of major technology companies at the White House as they formally backed a new initiative designed to prevent the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence data centers from driving up electricity prices for American consumers.
Stocks rebounded after a report that Iran made indirect contact with the United States to negotiate an end to the war in the Middle East, boosting hopes that the conflict could be short-lived.
An American submarine has destroyed an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka in the “first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II,” killing scores of people, the U.S. defense secretary confirmed Wednesday.
Israel and the United States are increasingly targeting Iran’s internal security apparatus as part of their ongoing military campaign, striking organizations responsible for suppressing protests and maintaining the Islamic Republic’s grip on power.
The United States says it has struck nearly 2,000 targets across Iran and destroyed at least 17 Iranian naval vessels, including a submarine, as part of the widening military campaign known as Operation Epic Fury, launched together with Israel against the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s powerful Assembly of Experts has reportedly chosen Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country’s next supreme leader amid the escalating war involving Iran, Israel and the United States.