Pakistani policeman beats up church leader

Written by David Fletcher 17 Jun 2016
Pakistani policeman beats up church leader

A church leader in Lahore was beaten up during his Sunday service by a policeman, during a dispute over the music being played over his church loudspeaker. Lahore has the largest concentration of the Christian community in Pakistan. The situation in Fazlia Colony, where about 400 households are Christian, deteriorated when a Muslim neighbour of the Pentecostal United Church called the police, saying that the loudspeaker ‘violated a Punjab Sound System Act’. When other churches nearby heard about the beating, hundreds poured in, blocking the road and demanding action against the policeman who had beaten the leader. In a separate incident a Christian was beaten by a mob for selling ice cream to Muslim customers who said it was ‘ritually unclean’ because it had been touched by a Christian. Most Pakistani Christians trace their origins via Hinduism to the Dalit caste - ‘untouchable’ and ritually impure.

Additional Info