Author: Editor

The months of May and June have been filled with fear and anxiety for minority Christians in Pakistan and India.  Concerns about potential attacks increased after the release of a movie that depicts the life of Fatimah, the daughter Islam’s prophet Muhammed as per the Shi’ah (a sect of Islam) perspective. Sunni protestors forced the termination of scheduled showings of the movie in Vue and Cineworld cinema’s during extremely vitriolic rallies.  Read more (here) Bolton News filmed one protest – there were many across the UK. These protests followed a huge Islamic backlash after comments made by an Indian politician…

A mentally retarded Pak-Christian man, from Sialkot who was unjustly accused of blasphemy has been released after 3 years in prison. Stephen and his family have now been put under the protection of the Government of Pakistan and they will soon be flown to a country in the west for safety. Read our early article (here) Stephen Masih (44 yrs), who has been diagnosed as bi-polar, was involved in  in an argument with his mother , sister, brother-in-law, and a few neighbors regarding a pigeon on his roof on 10th March 2019. During the dispute, Stephen became very agitated and…

We earlier reported on the assassination attempt on Pastor Narendra Besra (46 yrs) that occurred on February 4, 2022. In the attack he received several stab and slash wounds to his shoulder chest, hand, and head  The attack occurred while staying over night in a village called Baghima-Pahantoli , where he had been visiting rural church members (click here). Pastor Besra after his attack. After we met and prayed with Pastor Besra we began to support some of the costs for his medical treatment. Many of you were horrified by the brutal attack and the severity of the wounds he suffered and…

Prospective Law student Hannah Chowdhry meets with Saif Ul Malook Please sign and share widely our petition for Zafar Bhatti  (here) After  we reported blood in the vomit of Pakistan’s longest serving blasphemy convict ever  Zafar Bhatti (click here), Trustees of British Asian Christian Association agreed to find a solution to his ongoing incarceration. https://youtu.be/PAyNIojMkYI Zafar  and his wife asked us to take over the case due to dissatisfaction in the handling of his case and near the end of 2021, we took on this responsibility. On With desire to see freedom come to long term blasphemy convict Zafar Bhatti,…

Christian women from the Christian colony of  Lakhoder which is situated near the biggest dumping site of Lahore are being put through vocational courses to upskill  and gain financial strength. Traditionally, men and women form the local area would survive by sorting rubbish on the dumping site or by working as domestic cleaners for wealthy Muslims.  For extremely hard and long days of employment they would earn around 15,000 rupees (£70) per month. Women in such families are disenfranchised and their position exposes them to exploitation including sexual harassment, forceful conversion, violence and paying less than agreed or not at…

or over two years British Asian Christian Association have been providing free meals for homeless people, the economically deprived and refugees and asylum-seekers.  Our work began after Trustees became acutely aware of the growing homeless community in Ilford during a series of outreach events in Ilford Town Centre (click here). You can read a full review of our ‘Meals for the Homeless’ project and watch videos (here).  It includes an account of how we grew the service by meeting the homeless on the streets were they took shelter. Two weeks ago we resumed collections from Marks and Spencer and have also signed…

Spurgeon’s College, a leading theological institution, has launched its #FaithInCommunity campaign to reflect on and record the contributions of the faith community during the COVID-19 crisis. The campaign seeks to collate these contributions which will be submitted to the British Library as an official record – creating a piece of history for future generations. From food bank support to community leadership and volunteering, faith organisations and groups across the country have provided much needed support to their local areas throughout the crisis. This campaign calls on faith organisations to share these efforts using an online form hosted by Spurgeon’s College.…

The war between Ukraine and Russia has now almost completed its third month.  Few of us would have believed the war would have carried on for this long when it started (24th Feb) and most of us were surprised that it began (click here). Now however the war seems like it could go on for some time.  The devastation caused by this war has been phenomenal.  The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) at the United Nations (UN) has stated that close to 3838 civilians have been killed and just over 4351 civilians have been injured (19th…

Please sign and share widely our petition for Zafar Bhatti  (here) Fears that Zafar Bhatti (55 yrs), Pakistan’s longest serving blasphemy convict could be the first ever to be lynched heightened after a judge increased his sentence from life imprisonment to death on 3rd January 2022 (click here) Judge Sahibzada Naqeeb Shehzad, of Sessions Court Rawalpindi made this ruling despite clear physical and electronic evidence of the innocence of Zafar Bhatti.  No forensic evidence exists for any blasphemy by Zafar Bhatti, in fact every piece of physical and electronic evidence suggests he is innocent.  Zafar Bhatti however was convicted based on…

Badil Masih was sodomised and murdered by his employer Mr Mohammed Ikram and a cohort, in July 2019, for daring to seek full payment for work he had carried out at a scrapyard (click here). British Asian Christian Association stepped in to pay for legal costs, and support the family financially as they challenged for justice.  Despite clear evidence of a crime courts offered pre-arrest bail to the murderers who began to threaten the Christian family and key witnesses (click here). Though Badil’s mother  Shareefa remained stoic throughout the court process.  The witnesses were nobbled by the murderers and their cohorts.  They…