SHARAQPUR, Pakistan (LifeSiteNews) — A Christian man in Pakistan was stabbed by his supervisor at work and hospitalized with severe injuries last week after refusing to renounce his faith and convert to Islam.
The 22-year-old man, Waqas Masih, faced pressure to become a Muslim for more than a month but steadfastly resisted, according to his father, the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reported.
On March 21, Masih’ supervisor, Zohaib Iftikhar, called him into a private meeting at the paper factory where he worked in Sharaqpur and slashed his neck with a box cutter due to his refusal to renounce Christianity.
Masih suffered serious neck injuries and is being treated in a hospital in Lahore. His condition is reportedly critical but stable.
Iftikhar has since been arrested, and the incident is being investigated as an attempted murder.
Iftikhar also accused Masih of “desecrating” pages of the Quran, a common tactic used by Pakistani Muslims to persecute Christians. Masih denied the allegations, as did the owner of the factory, according to Voice of the Martyrs.
A Pakistani Capuchin priest, Father Lazar Aslam, visited Masih in the hospital and told ACN, “I prayed for his speedy recovery and for the well-being of his entire family. The attack on Waqas Masih is a harsh reminder of the challenges faced by religious minorities in Pakistan and the urgent need for social change to promote tolerance and protect the rights of all citizens.”
“We humbly call on the international community to pray for the victims and their families, as well as to raise awareness of the difficult situation for marginalized communities in Pakistan, ensuring that their voices are heard and their rights protected,” he continued.
“Sadly, making false accusations of blasphemy and harassing vulnerable minority communities has become a disturbing trend in Pakistan,” the priest noted. “We urge state institutions and responsible individuals to take concrete steps to prevent such incidents and ensure the protection of minority rights.”
Masih’s family is Pentecostal Christian, according to UCA News.
Pakistan, a Muslim-majority country, is notorious for widespread anti-Christian discrimination. “Blasphemy” against Islam is punishable by death.
More than 2,000 people in Pakistan “have been accused of blasphemy” since 1987, and 40 are currently facing the death penalty, a United States Commission on International Religious Freedom report from December 2023 stated.