Christian teacher faces
death penalty in Pakistan

By WND Staff

The headmaster of a Christian school in Pakistan will be hanged if he is found guilty of blaspheming Muhammad.

Parvez Masih has been accused of violating Pakistan’s rigid “blasphemy law,” which provides the death penalty for anyone who blasphemes against the Prophet Muhammad or the Koran.

The teacher “turned down an offer to drop all charges if he denied Christ,” reports The Capitol Hill Prayer Alert, a Washington, D.C.-based Christian prayer organization.

As headmaster of a Christian school in a small village close to Lahore, four students asked Masih about Mohammed, reports the organization.

“Parvez advised the four boys to consult their religious leaders. Later, two of the students gave false testimony to Pakistani authorities saying Parvez had spoken against Mohammed,” said the report.

Parvez’s next hearing is scheduled for today.

Pakistan’s blasphemy law, instituted in 1986 (section 295-C), states:

    Whoever by words, either spoken, or written, or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment, and shall also be liable to fine.”

“The main effect of the blasphemy law,” said law professor David F. Forte to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “is to unleash a reign of private terror against Christians and other religious minorities, frequently without the perpetrators being brought to justice.”

The March edition of WND’s monthly magazine, Whistleblower, is devoted cover-to-cover to reporting on Christian persecution worldwide. It is available at WorldNetDaily’s online store, ShopNetDaily.