Local Christian Leader Goes into Hiding after Death Threats

On the way home from a protest which he personally organized in response to the Gojra massacre and Christian persecutions , a local Christian leader in Gujrat (he wishes to remain unnamed in fear for his family and community, and so will be called "Mr. Masih") received an anonymous and untraceable phone call. The man who called warned the leader that if he continued to protest the local extremist Muslim activities, that he would be "shot on sight."

"How this man got my phone number, I don't know," Mr. Masih said. "I am so afraid for me and for my family. These things are serious. You just don't understand what these people are capable of. You simply can't know." Mr. Masih explained the events that led up to the protest. "My brother was speaking out against the persecution to the news media, and local extremists who worked at the same place that he works cornered him and threatened him. They beat him up and said that if he did not change his story and tell the media that there is no persecution, then they would kill his family. After they threatened his family, he promised to stop speaking out against them and had to quit his job." After this, Mr. Masih organized the protest.

When asked about the names of these local gangs, he refused to say. "These people have connections everywhere. I just can't say their names. Even our bishop won't say their names for fear of reprisal."

Mr. Masih disconnected his phone after the death threat and was rushed into hiding in an undisclosed location. He now can only leave his place of hiding for brief periods and with guards.

"I miss my family. I hear their voices on the phone, but it isn't enough." He is terribly worried about his family's ability to survive financially. "Without what little income I provide, I don't know what we are going to do. We are desperate, but I simply can't leave in order to work. What if my baby gets sick?"

Mr. Masih has a wife, two children, and two parents for whom he provides. He and his spiritual director are trying to find a way to get Mr. Masih, his wife, and his children out of Pakistan in order to work and send money back to his parents. He hopes to one day seek asylum in the United States.

Mr. Masih explains how his community has depended on him for resolving conflicts between the two faith communities. "I am famous around here," Mr. Masih ponders. "and my life is in danger. With God's help, the United States embassy will help me."

(the author of this article, by permission of Mr. Masih, corrected the English of the statements.)

*UPDATE* (September 18, 2009): As of the third week of September, 2009, Mr. Masih still remains in hiding inside the church, leaving very rarely for emergencies under the cover of darkness or during the early mornings of Ramadan slumbering. Mr. Masih is still receiving waves of threatening calls, demanding to be given his location and threatening to take his life.

"I am so frightened," Mr. Masih had cried when we spoke with him. "I feel like I am losing my mind. I was reading the stories of people like Romero, and this brought me some comfort. But I can't focus anymore. I can't sleep. I can't even bring myself to take phone calls from my family right now. It is just too difficult."

Mr. Masih's American connections are working hard to find someone to take his case seriously, but with the vast number of cases of religious persecution in the world, they are skeptical that Mr. Masih's plight will be heard. "But I still have hope," Mr. Masih said.