According to Pakistan, a Muslim shot and killed one Catholic on Sunday (September 7) and injured another while traveling to a pilgrimage site in Punjab.
Afzal Masi and his cousin Harris Tarik Masi in the Samnabad region of Lahore, Punjab, were among a group of Catholics who were in passenger vans on their way to the Nativity of Mary Shrine in Maria Mabad, when they were attacked by Muslims with Muslims Ash Rihuru, Muslims Ash Rihuru, on their way to the annual east feast of the Nativity at Mary Shrine in Maria Mabad district of Sheikhpura district. group.
“We were about 12-13 people in the van, including women from our family and young girls,” Peter said. “We were on the Sheikhpura Expressway around 1:30am, three Muslim young people on two motorcycles began teasing female passengers and cat-calling.
Afzal Masi sat in the front seat and asked the assailants to stop harassing women, while the Muslims stopped the van and pulled them onto the road, Peter said.
“They tried to save Afzal, they begged him with fists and kicked him, and started kicking him, and attacked us too,” Peter told Christian Daily International Morning Star News.
When the attackers noticed the poster, were stuck on the vehicle, and heard that all the passengers were Christians on their way to the shrine, they began to curse in rough language.
“They also called us chura (the pe jorative term used for Christians) and said how can we call them,” Peter said.
The raiders left and the pilgrims resumed their journey, but when they stopped by a gas station to check the tire pressure, three Muslims suddenly appeared with weapons. One of them was later identified as Muhammad Waqas of Farooqabad, fired with a Kalashnikov Assault Rifle, shot Afzal Masih in the neck, and shot Harris Masih in the right arm.
Afzal Masi died immediately. He was 44 years old.
Harris Masi was seriously injured, Peter said. Farooqabad police in Sheikhupura have registered lawsuits against Waqas and his two unidentified accomplices, but he added that they have failed to arrest them.
Afzal Masi leaves behind his wife and four sons.
Christian lawyer Kashif Nemato, director of the Good Samaritan Society for Development and Rehabilitation, accused the attack of religiously motivating.
“The incident is clearly an act of persecution based on the victim’s religious identity,” Neematt told Star News for Christian Daily International Morning. “Other passengers who witnessed the horrific attacks on Afzal and Harris said they had covered the van with pilgrimage posters and cross signs. Afzal not only stopped teasing female passengers, but also tortured the guns, but also plagued the guns to kill them.
Nemat said that in most of the violence against Christians, the perpetrators believe that the victims can escape anything because they are too weak to oppose them.
He added that Christians also face systemic discrimination in seeking justice.
“In this case, police have not added section 7 of the anti-terrorism law to their first information report (FIR), despite the fact that attackers committed crimes in full public opinion using automatic weapons and spread fear and panic in the area,” Nemat said. “This attitude of this police force will broaden the majority to infringe on religiously motivated attacks and carry out the attack.”
He said the government and police officers should be wary of fraud. His organization provides legal assistance to families as they are poor.
“I will pursue the case and do my best to bring the murderer to justice,” he said. “But I would like to appeal to Christians to support poor families because they have lost their earnings.”
Afzal Masih worked as a rickshaw driver while his mother Shagufta Bibi was working as a cleaner at a local school, his son Bilal Afzal, 18 said.
“We were very poor and our parents worked very hard to put food on our table,” Bilal Afzal told Star News for Christian Daily International Morning. “My mother has been ravaged by the incident and hasn’t spoken since the news of her father’s murder reached us. We can only appeal to the government for justice, as we have no financial means to pursue the incident.”
With a Muslim population of over 96%, Pakistan ranked 8th on the 2025 World Watchlist, where it is the hardest place to become a Christian.
