Who We are

//

What's happening

//

Our Cases

Featured Page

Confronting Religious Persecution at the IRF Summit

Feb. 10Stories That Demand Action:

Last week I spoke on a panel at the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit in Washington, D.C.—a global gathering that brings together advocates, policymakers, and legal experts from around the world who are on the front lines of defending religious freedom. The Summit provides a rare forum to share firsthand experiences, expose ongoing...More

Active Cases

Save Christians From Murder in Congo

Save Christians From Murder in...

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has once again become the site of unspeakable violence , with Christian communities being targeted by terrorists and militant forces. On February 15, over 70 Christians – primarily women, children, and the elderly – were added to the list of victims when they were abducted...More

Sign Petition

>

Cases

>

News

>

Petitions

>

Who We Are

>

Sign Up For Updates

>

<

Persecuted Pakistani Christians

Four years ago, we reported truly horrifying news from Pakistan.

A Christian couple, Shahzad and Shama, was burned alive by an angry Muslim mob over a false accusation of blasphemy.

Shahzad and Shama (a mother of three who was pregnant at the time with her fourth child) worked as bonded laborers at the brick kiln of Yousaf Gujjar for about thirteen years. On November 3, 2014, while cleaning the servants quarters provided by their employer, Shama found some papers that belonged to her father-in-law who had died a week earlier. She gathered the papers, some of which contained Arabic text. Shama was illiterate and did not know what the Arabic text said. She took the stack of papers and set it on fire. Burning old papers or selling them to street food vendors is a common way of disposing of papers and old books.

Shama’s Muslim neighbors saw her burning the papers and accused her of burning the Quran, as some of the papers allegedly contained Arabic text. The next day an angry mob gathered and attacked the couple.The mob beat them and then threw them in the brick kiln where they burned to death.

Around 103 people were charged with the two counts of murder. In 2016, an Anti-Terrorism Court acquitted 90, including the owner of the brick kiln. Of the remaining 13 men, 5 had been sentenced to hang and eight others were given two years in prison.

Sadly, on May 16, 2019, the Lahore High Court acquitted two of the five men sentenced to hang, confirming the death sentence of the other three.

“Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan headed a two-judge bench hearing appeals filed by Muhammad Hanif and Hafiz Ishtiaq against the ATC’s 2016 verdict. The appeals of three other convicts, Mehdi Khan, Riaz Kambo, Irfan Shakoor, were dismissed . . . by the court, which upheld their death sentences.”

This is very sad news in light of the fact that the couple was murdered in broad daylight, in front of hundreds of eye-witnesses. “The state prosecutor argued that there was solid evidence against all the convicts and requested the court to scrap the appeal.” Yet the court acquitted Hanif and Ishtiaq.

Christians continue to face not only violent persecution from angry mobs but also the tacit persecution of the Pakistani judicial system allowing those who would kill Christians to go unpunished. We will continue working to protect Christians from violence and persecution in Pakistan.

272,946

Signatures

Shaheryar Gill  //

Feb 10, 2026

Last week I spoke on a panel at the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit in Washington, D.C.—a global gathering that brings together advocates, policymakers, and legal experts from around the world who...

Shaheryar Gill  //

Jan 27, 2026

We recently informed you about V, a seven-year-old girl, who was sexually abused by a Muslim neighbor in Pakistan. We have been working on a similar, and even more horrific, case in which two Christian women...

Shaheryar Gill  //

Jan 21, 2026

Today I want to bring you an important update on another critical case involving a vulnerable seven-year-old Christian girl , to whom we will refer as “V” to protect her identity. V was sexually abused by a...