Fire at Worship Building in Pakistan Set by Church Leader
Police arrested church elder and treasurer Zubair Akhtar Khokhar after confronting him with video evidence from CCTV cameras of the fire set on Thursday (Nov. 16), said the Rev. Samuel Massey, pastor of Gulberg Presbyterian Church in Lahore.
Police arrested church elder and treasurer Zubair Akhtar Khokhar after confronting him with video evidence from CCTV cameras of the fire set on Thursday (Nov. 16), said the Rev. Samuel Massey, pastor of Gulberg Presbyterian Church in Lahore.
The fake letter, dated Oct. 16, 2023, warned the congregation against worshipping too loudly.
Naseerabad police registered a case against Zubair under Sections 295 and 436 of the Pakistan Penal Code, according to First Information Report (FIR) No. 3140/23. Section 295 relates to “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.” It is punishable by three years’ imprisonment, fines, or both.
Section 436 says that anyone who causes damage from fire or an explosive substance intending to destroy a building that is typically used as a place of worship, a home for people, or a place to store property will be jailed for life or a term of not less than three years and not over ten years. They will also be fined.
Pastor Massey said that he and other church elders were shocked when police summoned them on Saturday (Nov. 18) and shared their findings.
“The police questioned Zubair on Friday night because he was the only person, who by his own admission, had unlocked the gate and after some time reported the fire incident to me on the phone,” Massey said.
The church pastor said that the church leaders were already wary of Zubair’s attitude and had limited his role in administrative matters. Pastor Massey declined to elaborate, saying speaking publicly against a church member was not correct.
Two years ago, a Muslim family had filed a police complaint against the church to stop using the sound system during worship, but Pastor Massey said that the administration had addressed the concern.
“Zubair was part of the session team that handled the issue at that time,” he said. “He connected the recent events with that incident to give it a religious cover, which would have posed a serious threat to interfaith relations in the area.”
‘Shameful’
Church and community leaders said the involvement of a congregation member in the arson had put Pakistani Christians in an embarrassing situation.
“It’s shameful, to say the least,” said Bishop Azad Marshall, president of the Church of Pakistan.
According to Pak Mission Society Chief Officer Aqeel Rehman, the arson further compromised the quest for justice by persecuting Christians in Pakistan.
On Sept. 29, police in Faisalabad charged the Rev. Eleazar Sidhu with making false allegations after he admitted that a gunshot wound he blamed on Islamic extremists was self-inflicted.
Christian leaders said the pastor’s false allegation, followed by unwarranted activism by a handful of Christian rights advocates on social media, diverted attention from persecution in the Jaranwala riots and endorsed the claims of Islamist hardline groups that Christians were exploiting blasphemy cases to find an asylum in western countries citing threats, persecution, and lack of security in Pakistan.
Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List of the most brutal places to be a Christian, up from eighth the previous year.
