Woman claiming to be MPA Mary Gill’s close aide insists Aqeel Masih’s arms were chopped off by three Muslims for refusing to recant his faith
Some Christian lawmakers hailing from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) allegedly tried to portray the case of Aqeel Masih, who got both his arms chopped off a few days ago, as a case of persecution to create Christian-Muslim tensions and “malign Islam and Pakistan” in the world, a news website claimed the other day.
The website, Tehlka News, alleged that Federal Minister for Human Rights Kamran Michael and two lawmakers of the Punjab Assembly, Mary Gill and Shahzad Munshi, had plotted to portray the incident of Aqeel Masih as a case of Christian persecution in Pakistan.
The Tehlka report, however, fails to substantiate its allegation against the Christian lawmakers, a Pakistan Today investigation has found.
Aqeel Masih, 25, a resident of LDA Quarters Model Town submitted an application with the Ghalib Market Police Station on July 12, stating that his hands were chopped off by some Muslim men on June 24 because of his refusal to embrace Islam. Aqeel further said that he remained unconscious for some days and, therefore, was late in reporting the incident to the police.
Pakistan Today contacted Martha Kamal, who claims to be a close relative of Aqeel Masih, to seek details into the charge. Martha confirmed Aqeel Masih’s version that his hands were chopped off by three Muslim people with an axe when he refused to recant his faith.
“Aqeel was an employee at a local petrol station in Gulberg and was on his job when three men took him to a nearby railway track,” she said, adding that she could not reveal the names of the three Muslim men but that they were Aqeel’s friends for some time.
Martha, who introduced herself as a worker of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and a close aide to MPA Mary Gill, also claimed that the three Muslims had forced Aqeel to engage in the drugs business which he refused.
She said that MPAs Mary Gill and Shahzad Munshi were facilitating the registration of a case of forced conversion and bodily harm to the poor Christian man.
While MPA Mary Gill chose not to respond to repeated phone calls and text messages seeking her comment on the allegation leveled by the news website, MPA Shahzad Munshi said that he had visited the police station on the request of senior officials.
“Some police officials, including Model Town SP Amara Ather, requested me to visit the police station as I represent the Christian community,” he said, adding that he smelled foul play after Masih recorded contradictory statements to the police. “Some Christian NGOs and a website called Christians in Pakistan are trying to play those statements from a persecution angle,” he claimed.
“I do not think that Aqeel Masih’s hands were chopped off for not embracing Islam,” Munshi said.
Talking to Pakistan Today, some local residents claimed that Aqeel Masih was a heroin addict and his arms had been chopped off allegedly by a Pathan drug trafficking gang operating in the area because Aqeel had informed on them to the police.
Investigation In-charge Imran Khan told Pakistan Today that investigation of the case is under process but an FIR [First Information Report] has not been launched yet. The preliminary enquiry shows that Aqeel Masih’s hands were chopped off in a train accident. He said police were not aware of reports regarding involvement of a drug gang in the incident.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Federal Minister for Human Rights Kamran Michael said that he has asked the Punjab IG to submit a report on the incident in three days.
“The medico-legal report states that Aqeel Masih’s hands were chopped off by the train,” the minister said. “I am coming to Lahore to probe the matter as some elements have tried to portray it as a Christian-Muslim issue,” he said.
While many Christian NGOs have been doing admirable work in bringing incidents of minorities’ persecution to the limelight, some have been criticised for being ambulance chasers who are only interested in photo-ops so they can get funding from abroad. Top ranking Christian officials have also been criticised for using such incidents to add to their own profile rather than helping the persecuted Christians.