threats and the discrimination of Christians in the Asian nation, news reports said Thursday, August 24.
Timotheus Nasir (Gujranwala), who leads the 120-thousand strong reformed Presbyterian Church Pakistan, has been attacked by Islamic scholars because he publicly defends the Christian faith, said German evangelical news agency IDEA.
In addition an Islamic spiritual leader has reportedly demanded financial compensation from the church leader apparently because of his Christian activities.
It will be difficult for Nasir to defend himself, as militants have threatened to kill him during the upcoming trial, IDEA quoted Nasirs son, Shaleem Nasir, as saying.
TERRORIST THREAT
"Terrorist have threatened to kill him if he appears in front of the court in Karachi," Shaleem Nasir told IDEA, adding that despite the death threats, his father wants to attend the trial, which was postponed on August 10.
After Timotheus Nasir failed in his appeal for help from Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, he decided to hand over his passport to authorities, IDEA said.
He reportedly wrote the president that he lost his trust in Pakistani society and that he can no longer cope with "the extreme hatred, the religious discrimination and the intolerance
towards Christians expressed by the Islamic community."
SERVICES INTERRUPTED
His worship services have been interrupted and Christians of his and other churches have been persecuted and pressured to become Muslims, IDEA and other sources said. Nasir has also expressed concern over Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law which provides for the death sentence for anyone attacking Prophet Mohammed or Islam.
Human rights groups have said the controversial legislation has been often misused to imprison Christians and members of other religious minorities. IDEA quoted Nasir’s son as saying his father, who was a former long-time soldier, had no fears of death.
The church leader has three sons. Just about 2.3 percent of Pakistan’s predominantly Muslim population of 156 million people are Christians, according to estimates.(With BosNewsLife Special Correspondent Eric Leijenaar).
