Pak is a hell for Minority? Christian Mother and Son killed for disrespecting Islam

Religious discrimination is a never-ending issue in Pakistan which has been running since 1947 and there is no remedy till now. Pakistan has over 20 crores population, out of which around 3.4 million people belong to the Hindu community and the majority of which are Dalits or people of Scheduled Castes.

Minorities have never been treated equally in the country, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan promised to eradicate this issue but hasn’t chalked out any plan for the minorities so far. Even under his leadership, so many Hindus and Christians are still going through painful torture like the religious conversion (Hinduism to Islam) and forced marriages to elderly men.

In yet another shocking news in Pakistan, a Christian mother and her son were killed in broad daylight by a Muslim mob. The heart-wrenching incident took place at a village in the Pakistani province of Punjab on Monday.

Shabbir Masih filed a complaint against the accused, stating that his wife Yasmeen Masih and son Usman Masih were killed by their neighbour Hussain Shakoor in Hussain Kathore village located in Ahmad Nagar area of Gujranwala district after a heated argument between Yasmeen and Hussain’s mother, Itrat Bibi.

There is no mention of blasphemy in the police report and the incident was described as a personal dispute over cleaning of the street on which both families lived. Mohammad Hassan took the cover of blasphemy to save himself.

It has been learnt that Hussain Shakoor first opened fire at Yasmeen and when her son came to defend his mother, he was also shot in the chest. According to reports that Itrat Bibi and her son Hussain Shakoor killed the mother and son because they claim they heard them utter blasphemous words during the argument. Police have so far refuted this claim.

The incident which has its roots in blasphemy occurred days after Pakistani Prime Minister urged the Islamic world to unite against rising ‘Islamophobia’ in the aftermath of the merciless beheading of a French teacher, Samuel Paty. Samuel was killed for showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in the class.

The world knows that atrocities against Hindus, Sikhs and Christians have grown to a great extent in Pakistan since it came into existence. Minorities in the neighboring country are being persecuted.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been criticized a lot on social media for not taking stringent action against culprits. The accused have no fear for the law in the country and that is why they commit such heinous crimes in broad daylight.

Writer, historian, and activist Dharam Sikarwar is a very active author The Youth. He writes on national and international issues, environment, politics. He is an avid book reader as well.