The Hindus was shot dead after refusing to convert to Islam a few days after Christian’s throat was slit with Pakisan over a false blasphemous asp allegation that refused to abandon his faith, sources said.
Nadeem Naas, a 56-year-old Hindu, was shot dead by Muslims on Saturday (March 29) by Muhammad Mushtaq of Peshawar city, the capital of northwest Kybah Paktunka. The suspect was arrested the following day after protests by local Hindus, as well as Christians, sources said.
In a statement to Peshawar police, nurse brother Sagar Ameen said Mushtak had been pressured by his brother to convert to Islam for several days.
According to Ameen’s statement, Mushtaq shot him in the head after Naath refused.
The murdered Hindus reportedly worked as sanitation workers. Most of Peshawar’s more than 1,400 Hindu families work as sweepers and sewage cleaners.
On March 21, Muslims used cutter blades to reduce the jugular vein of Wakasumasi, a 22-year-old Christian in Sheikhhura district of Punjab. Timely medical assistance saved Christian’s life and he was recovering in the hospital.
After regaining consciousness, Masi wrote a statement from his hospital bed, stating that Iftical had attacked him, accusing him of secing copies of the Islamic Yat Islamic textbook with “dirty hands.” He also said that Iftical had involved him in religious debates and pressured him to convert to Islam on various occasions.
The victim’s father, Liyasat Masi, told Christian Daily Morning’s Star News that the family believed Iftical had used the allegations of blasphemy to target Wakas.
Samson Salamat, chairman of the Rwadari Tehreek (Equality Movement), criticized the Pakistani government for not opposing the forced conversion of religious minorities, particularly minor Christian and Hindu girls.
“Every day I hear reports of forced conversion of a minor girl, and now in March alone, two men from the Christian and Hindu community were attacked for refusing to change their faith,” Saramato said. “How much blood will the government spill to recognize the seriousness of this important issue?”
Pastor Reuben Kamar, an electoral of Pakistan’s Presbyterian Church, also condemned the murder of Hindus and called for justice from grieving families.
“In most cases, criminals are spared from punishment as the poor families of the victims succumb to pressure and settle for compromise,” Qamar told Star News for Christian Daily International Morning. “This should not happen in this case and in Wakas Masi. Every human life is valuable regardless of faith affiliation. The government must ensure that the perpetrators of such violent crimes committed in the name of religion must not escape prosecution.”
The senior priest also called on the government to prioritize laws against forced conversion, as innocent lives are taken away from citizens or put in danger solely because they refused to abandon their faith.
On March 11, Religious Freedom spoke at a side event during a regular session of the 58th UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, denounced the deterioration of human rights in Pakistan, particularly the continued abuse of the country’s harsh blasphemous Asp laws and forced conversion of minority girls.
European Parliament member Charlie Weimers worked on the rally and described Pakistan’s blasphemous ASP law as “a weapon of fear against religious minorities.”
“Christians and others in Pakistan are facing mob violence, illegal imprisonment and forced conversion,” Weimers said, adding that the Jalanwara riots in August 2023 had 26 church buildings torched and multiple Christian homes and businesses were looted.
In 2021, the European Parliament called on Pakistan to amend its blasphemous ASP law, urging targeted sanctions on international jurisdiction over the crimes of Eritrean officials and Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega, but nothing has changed since.
“The European Union must stop enabling Pakistan’s persecution aircraft,” he said. “Trade, aid, and visas must be conditioned on actual human rights reforms and sanctions must be imposed on offenders.”
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.
