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| Maira Shahbaz fears for her life. The 14-year-old is in hiding after being accused of apostasy for breaking off the marriage - an offence punishable by death in Islam |
Catholic altar server Maira Shahbaz is hiding after being accused of apostasy
Over 9,000 have signed petition asking PM to grant her and family asylum in UK
As a backbench Tory MP, Boris Johnson led calls for Mrs Bibi to be given asylum
Maira has now appealed directly to PM, saying in statement: 'Please protect me'
This is not an isolated report.
On Armistice Day, International Christian Concern reported that two Christians, a mother and son, were killed in an incident of religious hatred in a village located in the Gujranwala district of Pakistan. They were shot dead by their Muslim neighbour because as a Muslim family they did not like waste water flowing by their home from the house of an ‘untouchable’.
In Pakistan the term chura or churi is used to denote Christians as low caste and untouchable. It is widely held among Pakistan’s Muslim population that Christians are dirty and as a result must be relegated to the lowest rungs of society
Christians are relegated to the sectors of cleaning and sweeping in Pakistan. While Christians make up around 4% of the population, nearly 80% of them are involved in sanitary department and cleaning jobs that are considered impure for Muslims.
On Wednesday, 25th November, Set Your Captives Free – A Report on Christians unjustly detained for their Faith will be launched in the UK parliament by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
The Report is intended as a springboard for ACN supporters to advocate for the release of those unjustly detained and demand perpetrators be brought to justice. It profiles individuals – young and old – both those kidnapped by extremist groups and others arrested by the state and held without charge.
As part of its advocacy campaign, ACN has so far collected more than 8,500 signatures calling on the Prime Minister to grant asylum to Pakistani 14-year-old Maira Shahbaz, profiled in the report, who is in hiding from her former abductor who has threatened to kill her, saying she is an apostate.
Across the world, people will mark #RedWednesday by wearing red (e.g. putting on a red scarf), using social media to promote the campaign and lighting up public buildings in red.
You can sign the #RedWednesday petition HERE.
Glad to have been made aware of this petition. which I've signed. Though unfortunately it doesn't appear to have been widely publicized, as there were still less than a thousand signatories when I signed yesterday.
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