{"id":607,"date":"2011-05-12T10:39:47","date_gmt":"2011-05-12T14:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/pray_for_the_persecuted_church\/?p=607"},"modified":"2011-05-12T13:02:23","modified_gmt":"2011-05-12T17:02:23","slug":"pakistans-notorious-blasphemy-black-law-abused-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/pray_for_the_persecuted_church\/2011\/05\/pakistans-notorious-blasphemy-black-law-abused-again.html","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy “black law” hits Christian bookstore owner"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Street protests supporting the blasphemy laws<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Christian businessmen Gulzar Masih and son Suleman are in hiding after a business rival invoked Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy law to accuse them of defiling the Koran.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a Christian leader says \u201cextremist elements are getting stronger\u201d in his nation.<\/p>\n

Increasingly, the law — which\u00a0provides the death penalty for anyone\u00a0who speaks ill of Islam or\u00a0Mohammed or who disrespects the Koran —\u00a0is being used to settle personal scores. This time, the victims are\u00a0father and son bookstore owners in the town of\u00a0Sialkot. Yesterday (May 11), they had to flee a mob of local Muslims who tried to set fire to\u00a0their shop. Only the intervention of police stopped the attackers — who made no arrests and filed no charges.<\/p>\n

\n

CLICK HERE to read about Christian husband and wife sentenced to 25 years for allegedly touching a Koran without washing their hands<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Street protests opposing the blasphemy laws<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ten years ago, Gulzar opened a bookstore in the neighborhood of\u00a0Druman Wala Chowk along with Muslim associate Abdul Rauf.<\/p>\n

As business increased, they bought a bigger store.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as the business started growing, Abdul Rauf wanted to take over the business. Some issues started between the partners, and ultimately in 2009 the Delight Book Shop was divided into two shops, Delight Books and New Delight Books,\u201d said\u00a0Christian leader\u00a0Anwar Feroze. \u201cHowever, because Gulzar Masih had good contacts with suppliers, his business grew. Rauf was not happy with that and quarrelled with his old partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE for more on Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and its abuses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yesterday, there was a showdown. Suleman went to open the store and found burnt pages of the Koran under the shutter.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Protesters supporting the blasphemy laws<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As if waiting for him to arrive, reports journalist by Jibran Khan,\u00a0“employees of Abdul Rauf began to shout, accusing Gulzar and his son of the deed.<\/p>\n

According to Naeem Taj,\u00a0who is involved in defending Pakistani Christians, the burnt pages were deliberately planted in order to frame the Christian businessman. His rival was behind it to drive his competitor out of business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe blasphemy law is being once more as a pretext to settle a personal score,\u201d Taj said.<\/p>\n

\n

CLICK HERE to read about the assassinations of\u00a0two national Pakistani leaders\u00a0after they proposed repeal of\u00a0the blasphemy laws<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Upon hearing shouts from the Muslim bookseller, a group of Muslims gathered in order to attack Suleman, who was able to flee and inform his father. In the meantime, the mob attempted to set\u00a0the shop\u00a0on fire. Police intervened in time to prevent the fire and disperse the crowd, but they did not file any charges for the attempted arson.<\/p>\n

Fearful that they will be jailed on blasphemy charges — which often happens after such incidents — the father and son have gone into hiding.<\/p>\n

\n

CLICK HERE to read how United Nations\u00a0approval of the\u00a0persecution law has been quietly dropped<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Protests in Rome against the blasphemy laws<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe abusive use of the blasphemy law has increased in the past few years,\u201d said local Catholic priest Javed Gill. \u201cThe issue must be addressed. Unfortunately, extremist elements are becoming stronger in our society.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christian businessmen Gulzar Masih and son Suleman are in hiding after a business rival invoked Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy law to accuse them of defiling the Koran. Meanwhile, a Christian leader says \u201cextremist elements are getting stronger\u201d in his nation. Increasingly, the law — which\u00a0provides the death penalty for anyone\u00a0who speaks ill of Islam or\u00a0Mohammed or…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131,130,16,30,59,10,4],"tags":[53,67,35,117,34,122,115,113,112],"class_list":["post-607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blasphemy-law","category-inspiration","category-islam","category-muslim","category-news","category-pakistan","category-persecution","tag-blasphemy-law","tag-blasphemy-laws","tag-christians","tag-islam","tag-muslims","tag-news","tag-pakistan","tag-persecuted-christians","tag-persecution"],"yoast_head":"\nPakistan's notorious blasphemy "black law" hits Christian bookstore owner - Pray for the Persecuted Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/pray_for_the_persecuted_church\/2011\/05\/pakistans-notorious-blasphemy-black-law-abused-again.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pakistan's notorious blasphemy "black law" hits Christian bookstore owner - Pray for the Persecuted Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Christian businessmen Gulzar Masih and son Suleman are in hiding after a business rival invoked Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy law to accuse them of defiling the Koran. 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