Islamabad, October 7 (IANS). A leading group for minority rights on Tuesday emphasized the tragic death of a Christian spiritual leader in Pakistan who spent ’13 painful years’ in prison for a crime he did not commit, and then acquitted on false slander charges that took away his freedom, health and peace. According to Voice of Pakistan Minorities (VOPM), the death of Pastor Zafar Bhatti is not an isolated tragedy, it is a mirror of the institutional suppression of minorities in Pakistan. Bhatti died of heart failure on October 5, just two days after his release. Years of torture, humiliation and neglect in the horrific prison system of Pakistan have ruined his health. The right organization emphasized how his wife Nawab Bibi’s sadness pierced the silence of a people accustomed to such tragedies. The emphasis on her is the voice of a mourning woman, but of every Christian, Ahmadiyya, Hindu or Shia in Pakistan who constantly lives for accusation, violence or imprisonment. Vopm said: “The suffering of Pastor Zafar did not begin testimony, but with accusations born of hatred. Like countless Christians and minorities in Pakistan, he became the target of the country’s abused blasphemy laws – laws that claimed faith and turned justice into a spectacle.” It added, “For 13 years they were detained in dirty prison cells, denied the right healthcare and convicted of a crime that never happened. Their appeals were delayed, hearings were postponed and their health still dropped due to neglect from the state.” –Is MS/DKP Share This Story Tags
Christian leader dies in Pakistan after 13 years of wrong imprisonment on false defamation charges
