Pakistan: Minority rights group flags brutal attack on Christian worker

by IANS |

Islamabad, Feb 27 (IANS) A leading minority rights group on Friday highlighted another brutal attack on a Christian minority worker in Pakistan’s Punjab province, stating that religious communities frequently face violence and systematic exploitation across the country.

Citing eyewitnesses, the Voice of Pakistan Minority (VOPM) mentioned that Yousaf Masih was attacked in Gujranwala city of Punjab by four fruit vendors who allegedly struck him with a two?kilogramme iron weight — typically used to balance scales in markets.

According to the rights body, the blow left him bleeding and fighting for his life, while those who rushed to his aid described a scene of chaos and fear — “one more chapter in a long story of pain endured by many marginalised workers in Pakistan”.

The VOPM highlighted that the incident was more distressing because it could have been prevented. The rights body added that the accused had reportedly previously harassed and verbally abused Yousaf’s supervisor.

The warning signs, it said, were present, but no action was taken, allowing “hatred to escalate into violence”.

“This attack is not an isolated incident but a painful reflection of the daily discrimination, humiliation, and insecurity faced by Christian workers in Pakistan,” the VOPM quoted Pastor Imran Amanat, a local religious leader as saying.

The rights body noted that Amanat’s remarks resonate across the Christian communities in Punjab, where countless workers, though performing essential services, remain trapped in cycles of exclusion and fear — “punished simply for who they are and what they believe”.

“For decades, Christians across the country have lived with the weight of economic hardship and social stigma. Many of them occupy the lowest rungs of public service — sanitation, cleaning, sewage maintenance — roles treated with disdain,” the VOPM stated.

“Without proper legal protection or societal respect, they often bear the brunt of violence and exploitation. When the law fails to act quickly or fairly, it sends a dangerous message: that the weakest can be harmed without consequence,” it added.

The rights body further said, “Justice for Yousaf Masih is more than a courtroom matter; it is a test of conscience for a nation that prides itself on equality and compassion. His suffering is a reminder that faith should never determine one’s safety, and poverty should never define one’s worth.”