A Christian Pakistani man was arrested last week facing accusations of blasphemy, as the country's stringent, controversial crackdown on 'blasphemy' continues.
Repairman Ifshaq Masih, 23, was arrested June 16 in the Green Town area of Lahore after being accused of blasphemy, according to Morning Star News.
Muslim customer Mohammad Irfan had refused to pay Masih for a repaired bicycle, reportedly saying that it was not right for Masih to demand money from him.
Masih's brother Mahmood Masih described what followed: 'During the argument, Irfan said that he obeys only one master, Prophet Mohammad, to which Ishfaq said that he was a Christian and his faith ends at Christ.
'Upon hearing this, Irfan raised a clamour that Ishfaq had blasphemed against Muhammad. Soon a mob gathered at the spot, and someone called the police, who took Ishfaq into custody.'
Masih's attorney, Riaz Anjum said the report that had been filed against Masih under the country's blasphemy law was incorrect and vague. He was hopeful that Masih would be granted bail.
'The First Information Report is quite weak, as it does not contain any specific blasphemous words that my client may have allegedly said,' Anjum said. 'It also shows that the police did not even bother to investigate the charge before registering a case against the poor man. This is the routine practice of the police in blasphemy cases, and it's a shame that nothing is being done to stop it.'
The arrest comes after last month saw millions of Pakistanis began receiving text messages from the government warning against the sharing of 'blasphemous' content online.
The state-run Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said that 'uploading & sharing of blasphemous content on Internet is a punishable offence under the law', and provided contact details for reporting offensive content. The PTA has allegedly received more than 3,000 complaints about blasphemy online.
Rights activists warn that since anyone can create to fake social media account and post online in someone else's name, innocent citizens could easily be targeted and framed for 'blasphemy' that they never committed.
'All that needs to be done after that is registration of a case under the blasphemy law, and you will be in jail for a good number of years until the court decides your fate,' said Christian rights advocate Napolean Qayyum.
Pakistan's blasphemy legislation has been a major point of controversy in recent years. In April the majority-Muslim country's parliament called for reform to the laws after a student accused of blasphemy was killed in a mob lynching.
