2024-08-31 16:44:28
Two Christian brothers in Pakistan have been arrested and charged with blasphemy after being accused of destroying pages of the Quran.
Tabish Shahid and Kalu Shahid, 18 years old, both illiterate, were arrested in Kasur district, Punjab province, a Muslim reported them for allegedly tearing pages from the Quran.
According to the current law in Pakistan, a sentence of life imprisonment can be imposed for discrediting the Quran, but intent must be proven to convict.
Ghulam Mustafa, who made the complaint, said the two Christian brothers abandoned the pages of the Quran at a local fair: “The boys were making videos on TikTok throwing fake notes and pieces of paper during the Urs [aniversário] an annual event at the shrine of Baba Ronaq Shah when some local residents noticed verses from the Quran on the torn paper.”
Mustafa’s accusation is contained in a First Information Report (FIR) document – the equivalent of a police report in Brazil – registered under articles of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which it has a Muslim majority.
Sajid Christopher of the Human Friends Organization said the brothers are illiterate and belong to a poor family: “Tabish and Kalu went to the shrine to watch Urs celebrations and make TikTok videos,” he said.
“When they saw other people throwing money into the air in amazement, the boys thought of having fun. Due to their illiteracy and ignorance, the two did not realize that they had accidentally torn pages from a Quranic booklet placed nearby,” Christopher added.
Relatives of the young men handed them over to the police after authorities took their mother and maternal uncle into custody, the human rights activist explained: “Their father, Shahid Masih, worked in brick works, but recently started working as a mason. The boys also started working in a local factory a few days before this incident.”
Christopher said the family contacted his organization for legal support, and hired a Muslim lawyer, Chaudhry Imtiaz, to defend the brothers.
According to information from the portal The Christian PostChristóir mentioned the need to debate the injustice of accusing poor illiterate people of blasphemy, since many accused Christians like the two brothers do not have a basic education.
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