Asher John

Journalist @dailytimespak @epakistantoday. Founding Editor & CEO @kkmediapk @dailyskooppk. Retweets are not endorsements.

[Asher John @AsherJ78]

@GC_Relief Please update your info. Nazeer Masih has succumbed to his injuries earlier today. He was on the ventilator since the day of his attempted lynching.

[Archbishop Dr Azad Marshall @BishopAzadM]

Today every single Pakistani should be weighed by grief, not only for the atrocities in a foreign land but right here. Yet again, hate has brought us to the place where we must ask questions. The question is not ‘Where will this stop?’ because beyond the devastation of homes and lives, beyond the brutal killing of a hard working man, beyond the devastation of a community and the grief of a family, we have already come too far! The question is when will those who make change and those who pursue justice, seek truth and cry for a more just and fair world, when will those lives rise up for the sake of Pakstan’s own. Us, Pakistan’s Christians, are Pakistan’s own and yet, as Nazeer Masih (Lazar) is now being prepared to be buried, the circumstances are pitched even now against millions of Pakistan’s own. What hope can we honestly speak for as Pakistan’s Own? Being a minority justifies a mob being whipped up and lives being devastated and people being killed? Who whips up these mobs? Who pursues the many crimes that exist in one incident and who promises us that this will never happen again? No one! But today let us look to God for Justice, let us trust in His intervention and His divine hope. Our prayers are with the family of Nazeer Masih (Lazar) and with the community in Sargodha. We lift our voices in lament, in regret, in solidarity and for an honest plea for justice. I urge our leaders and those who were brought to power for the sake of such a time as this, not to go silent and not to turn their faces away from this atrocity. Do something, Say Something. May the Lord have mercy on our land.

[Kross Konnection @kkmediapk]

Serious allegations of financial #misappropriation and #corruption in the largest #Protestant #church in #Pakistan raises a question on absence of #accountability in institutions of public trust.
@AnglicanNews @JustinWelby
@gafconference
@MichaelNazirAli
https://t.co/18VYcyBULF

[Asher John @AsherJ78]

“My son was struggling for his life, bleeding profusely from the bullet wounds, but his murderer did not allow us to even give him some water, let alone comfort him.'
20yr old Farhan's father reveals harrowing details of son's gruesome murder in #Sialkot.
#JusticeForFarhan

[Kross Konnection @kkmediapk]

Farhan Ul Qamar was shot dead in the presence of other family members on Nov 9. His father, Noor Ul Qamar says the killer, Muhammad Zubair, showed hatred for #Christians and #Jews, mistakenly referring to the family as Jews as he ranted at them.

https://t.co/vuiJTZarLk

[Kross Konnection @kkmediapk]

Farhan Ul Qamar was gunned down in front of his parents in their under-construction house in #Pasrur on Nov 9, but #Sialkot police have so far been unable to unearth the motive behind the youth's gruesome #murder.

https://t.co/up53iveZvx

[Kross Konnection @kkmediapk]

Police probe has revealed that #arson at #Gulberg Presbyterian Church in #Lahore on Nov 16 was not religiously motivated. The perpetrator, church treasurer Zubair Khokhar had planned it to appear that way.

https://t.co/LVotfOLPPt

[Kross Konnection @kkmediapk]

Pastor says unknown group had threatened dire consequences if volume of church's sound system was not limited to premises during Sunday service.
@bilalfqi @CSWadvocacy @fispahani @voice_minority
@HRCP87 @BishopAzadM
@ADFIntl @CSI_humanrights
https://t.co/e654UypF5M

[Kross Konnection @kkmediapk]

Shaukat Masih and his wife Kiran were arrested and charged under Section 295-B of the #blasphemy statutes after a local #Muslim man accused them of throwing torn pages of the #Quran from the roof of their house in #Lahore on Sept 8.

https://t.co/cmCn7eDB4J

[Kross Konnection @kkmediapk]

Karishma Devi, a 17yr old #Hindu girl, was abducted, gang-raped and murdered by three men in a remote region in South Punjab on Oct 3. Let's raise our voice for #JusticeForKarishma

@ADFIntl @bilalfqi @fispahani @HRCP87 @voice_minority @KesooMalKheealD
https://t.co/G120JIkbN4

[Archbishop Dr Azad Marshall @BishopAzadM]

Today (on Friday 6th October, 2023) Pakistan’s notable Daily paper ‘The News’ carrie’s the headlines about our interim government’s claim that minorities enjoy equal rights in Pakistan. In Jaraanwala we still smell the acid in the air and see the evidence of freshly burnt buildings that smell nothing like equal rights . I wish to remind our Caretaker Government and those seeking future prominence in upcoming elections that equal rights for religious minorities should reflect in actions rather than statements for public consumption. It's unfortunate that while our government leaders repeatedly claim that non-Muslim Pakistanis are equal citizens of the country, these statements become meaningless when we see the government's indifferent attitude towards our legitimate demands for justice and due acknowledgement of our concerns for protection from religiously-motivated violence, prejudice, discrimination etc.
Will the honourable CM please explain why his government has refused to initiate a judicial inquiry into the Jaranwala incident? Do we not have the right to know who is responsible for ransacking our churches and homes? Do we not have the right to demand accountability of the officials responsible for inaction against the rioters who looted and plundered our properties in front of their eyes yet they acted as silent spectators?
Moreover, Christians in Jaranwala pursuing the terrorism cases are being threatened by various quarters to back down while many of those arrested for rioting are being let off on bails. There is no assurance of protection for us yet we are being told that the onus of these cases being unsuccessful will also be on us.
In such circumstances do we really want others to believe that minorities are equal citizens of Pakistan?
Is restoration of historical buildings of religious significance more important than protection of life and property of minority citizens?
Perhaps it's time now for our government to set its priorities right!

[Kross Konnection @kkmediapk]

#Christian leaders believe unwarranted #activism in alleged fake assassination bid case of #Jaranwala Pastor Eleazar Sidhu alias #PastorVicky has damaged pursuit of justice in main #Jaranwala cases.

https://t.co/4a3rmtQJy4

[Kross Konnection @kkmediapk]

Shaukat Masih and his wife Kiran were arrested for alleged #Quran desecration in #Lahore on Sept 8 even though they were not present in their house at time of incident, sources say.
@ADFIntl @bilalfqi
@BishopAzadM @CSI_humanrights
@fispahani @juliabicknell https://t.co/moNhPUUolw

[Kross Konnection @kkmediapk]

A #Christian couple in #Lahore has been booked on blasphemy charges after an area resident accused them of allegedly desecrating the #Quran. According to initial info, the couple have been arrested after religious activists staged a protest after Friday prayers.

[Asher John @AsherJ78]

First Sargodha and now Faisalabad district is on target of extremist elements. The state apparatus needs to get their act together!

[Kross Konnection @kkmediapk]

Eleazar Sidhu says unidentified persons had been threatening him since Aug 28 after he asked police to remove Islamic slogans from the walls of his church in #Jaranwala.
The attackers also forced him to recite the Kalima before opening fire, he says.

https://t.co/D7Ls649115

[Archbishop Dr Azad Marshall @BishopAzadM]

Our prayers have been answered today as after a prolonged delay of two years the Supreme Court of Pakistan has finally taken up a petition we filed against the forced conversion and forced marriage of an underage Christian girl child, Nayab Gill, and issued notices to the Federation of Pakistan and others.
Nayab was barely 14 years old when she was taken from her poor parents in Gujranwala in June 2021. The Lahore High Court had rejected the petition of her poor parents and handed the child in the custody of her so-called Muslim husband by relying only on her statement, which was ostensibly given under duress as is witnessed in almost all such cases.
We hope that the august Supreme Court will address the disconnect between the Penal and Sharia laws relating to majority age (for marriage) hence providing a deterrent against forced faith conversions of minority girls in Pakistan.

[Kross Konnection @kkmediapk]

Though the petition has been taken up after a prolonged delay of two years, #Christians are hoping that the SC will consider all aspects and order measures for protection of underage girls.

[Asher John @AsherJ78]

@GC_Relief Please verify information before sharing it online. This photo is of the first night after the attacks took place on Aug 16. These people moved to the camps the next day and almost all Christian of the affected areas in #Jaranwala are now back in their neighbourhoods.

[Asher John @AsherJ78]

Attempts are being made to provoke Christian-Muslim tensions in #Pakistan. Meanwhile sources in #Jaranwala have reported that #Christians are being threatened not to identify the rioters or testify against them, resulting in release of at least 9 suspects.

[Kross Konnection @kkmediapk]

Overnight appearance of the slogan of an Islamic hardline party, #TLP, on the outer wall of a church in #Faisalabad's Rehmat Town area has raised fears of deliberate attempts to stoke violence against #Christians in #Punjab who are still reeling from the attacks in #Jaranwala.

[Asher John @AsherJ78]

Dear IGP @OfficialDPRPP please don't let there be a repeat of the #JaranwalaIncident 🙏😔

[Kross Konnection @kkmediapk]

There's a sizeable Christian population in Sargodha and all efforts should be made to ensure their protection. Please note that in July the Christians were twice forced to flee their homes in Sargodha after two community members were accused of committing #blasphemy.

[Kross Konnection @kkmediapk]

HRCP fact-finding mission says #Jaranwala rioters were not a “spontaneous or random crowd”, but a part of a “larger campaign of hatred against local Christians”.

https://t.co/ArNMPuXLJa