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Even as violence against Christians has increased in response to U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, signs of improvement in Pakistan's dismal human-rights record have begun to appear. But the murder of a Christian by an ordinary Muslim—not a member of terrorist organizations in the country—underscores the climate of fear for Pakistani believers.

The victim, Samuel Masih, was charged with blasphemy after he was accused of littering the side of a mosque (which he'd denied). In May Masih was transferred from Lahore Central Jail to a hospital to be treated for tuberculosis. A policeman guarding his room struck him several times in the head with a hammer. Masih went into a coma and died four days later.

Compass Direct reported that policeman Faryad Ali told investigators it was "his religious duty, as a Muslim, to kill the Christian man."

Blasphemy, defined as criticizing Muhammad by word, deed, or imputation, is a capital offense in Pakistan. In July Pakistan's parliament began considering reform of the blasphemy law after years of criticism. Under the law, the testimony of a single Muslim can result in a death sentence for a Christian.

No fewer than 10 Christians are awaiting trial for blasphemy charges, and about 80 have been so charged since 1986, according to Asia News. While Muslims often use the law to settle personal grudges against religious minorities—or murder them while they wait years for trial—authorities have also charged 289 Muslims with blasphemy since 1986; 59 of those are still awaiting court dates.

The reform efforts began even as President Pervez Musharraf faced intense pressure from Islamic radicals. His antiterrorism measures won Pakistan status as a non-NATO ally of the United States in July—enabling it to receive greater U.S. foreign aid for military equipment, but further infuriating the hard-core Muslims within his political base.

Indeed, Musharraf had already agreed to extend Islam's influence in Pakistan in exchange for the crucial support of an alliance of six anti-West, pro-Shari'ah (Islamic law) parties. Elizabeth Kendal of the World Evangelical Alliance's Religious Liberty Commission notes that "Musharraf's dependence upon [the alliance] severely limits his ability to deal with Islamist extremism and terrorism."

Terrorist organizations that Musharraf has banned have reorganized under new names, and nonaffiliated extremists continue to threaten Pakistani Christians. Such Muslims raped three Christian girls in separate incidents in 2003. And last May, extremists at a Muslim madrassa (school) seized Javed Anjum, a young Christian man who had stopped there to get a drink of water. They tortured him at the school for five days when he refused to convert to Islam. He died in a Faisalabad hospital a few days later.

The parliament's review of the blasphemy law is an answer to years of prayer. Pray that it is repealed or significantly revised to conform to U.N. standards for religious and other rights.

Likewise, the release on bail in June of Anwar Masih, a 30-year-old Christian jailed in Lahore since last December, marks one of the few times a victim of trumped-up blasphemy charges hasn't been held indefinitely under inhumane conditions while awaiting trial. Such legislative and judicial advances provide Westerners an opportunity to affirm progress when writing Pakistani officials.

It is also important to convey concern not just for Christians, but for all religious minorities, as well as advocate human rights for Muslims. Diffusing the perception of evangelicals as just another narrow special interest group helps to disarm anti-West, anti-Christian bias.

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October 2004, Vol. 48, No. 10