A 58-year-old Christian, who worked for over 30 years at the Liaqatabad Gold Market in Karachi, was murdered by a fellow worker over a false blasphemy accusation. Professional rivalry or blasphemy? A member of the Liaqatabad Jewelers Association said,” I have been seeing Boota Masih working in this market from past 3 decades, he was an honest worker, no complaint was ever reported against him, had never seen him even speaking against anyone ever.” The family of the deceased is convinced that the blasphemy allegation was used as a tool to murder him. No one in the entire market has testified that they heard or saw Masih saying any derogatory remarks about the Prophet; this clearly is a case of false accusation to murder an innocent man on professional rivalry. Muhammad Asif a worker at the jewelry market brutally stabbed Masih, calling him a blasphemer and no one dared to intervene. Masih`s family talked to the people in the market, everyone confirmed that this is a case of false accusation and the blasphemy accusation was used as an excuse for murder, the jewelers association is also silent in the matter. The family got a FIR registered for murder against Muhammad Asif. Initially the police seem reluctant in pursuing the matter, but on 24th October 2013 armed men forcefully entered Masih`s family home and threatened to kill the family if they don’t convert to Islam. The family reported the matter to the police and the police investigated the matter and managed to arrest the prime accused Muhammad Nadeem along with 2 other men who broke into Masihi`s house and harass the family. The civil society has condemned the incident and demanded that the concerned authorities act and immediately arrest Muhammad Asif. Human Rights organization Life for All Pakistan has condemned the incident. (ANI)
