A Christian manager of a local hospital in Lahore was killed after being targeted in an acid attack whilst getting off his motorcycle just before the start of his shift. The men who attacked him wore masks and so far remain unidentified despite numerous witnesses for the attack.
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Faraz Ahmed Badar (26 yrs) resided in Gujaranwala and after the attack was immediately taken into the private hospital of his employment, but later rushed to DHQ Hospital Gujaranwala. Due to the severity of his injuries he was transferred to Mayo Hospital, Lahore. Neither hospital has a special burns unit and despite the best efforts of medical staff his health deteriorated daily, leading to his eventual death on 15th September 2018. Both Hospitals have reported that the body of Faraz Badar was littered with signs of torture which seems to have been undertaken after the chemical was sprayed upon him, on what is being described as an extremely brutal and callous attack.
Faraz before the acid attack.
Faraz was a young graduate in Pharmacy and had been working at DHQ Hospital in Gujaranwala for about two years. On September 5th at around 2 a.m, when he was going home from the hospital some unknown assailants sprayed acid upon him”. This is not the first time Faraz has been attacked and there were indications of previous torture on his body.
BPCA officer Zeeshan Masih, visited the family before his death and were able to speak to his father Badar Masih (48 yrs), he said:
“There was a lot of jealousy at his place of employment, we live in a dog eat dog culture where often Christians become the victims because of their vulnerable status.
“My son was regularly abused by Muslim’s who could not stand the fact that a Christian man was in a position senior to them.
“Our country is bigoted and many most Muslims believe all Christians should be sweepers not managers, they call us ‘Chura’ a name that means untouchable cleaner.”
Badar Masih alleges this was not the first time that Faraz was attacked, only when the family told the police about the incident they were ignored because they were Christian.
He added:
“This is not the first time that Faraz was attacked.
“Only a few months previously Faraz was attacked by another group of unidentified men wearing masks telling that as a Christian he was not fit to lick their boots, they even shoved their boots in Faraz’s mouth.
“They threatened him with death unless he left his employment telling him that his ritual impurity meant he was contaminating the health of ‘pure Muslims”.
Faraz’s mother known as Bibi (45 yrs) spoke with the BPCA, she said:
“I cannot believe my innocent son was killed. He done nothing wrong barring adhering to the Christian faith.
“He was a committed volunteer of our church and he was nearing the age of marriage which was very exciting for our family – he did not get a chance to live a full life.”
Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, said:
“A young Christian professional has been killed for nothing more than adhering to the principles of his faith.
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“It was only a year ago that a similar petty jealousy led to the death of Sharoon Masih a young Christian child at school who was excelling above his Muslim colleagues (click here).
“Later his murderer was set free in a huge miscarriage of justice (click here).
“The lack of desire for police to investigate these attacks leads to a sense of impunity and stifles the progress of Christians who are bullied and harangued out of senior positions and forced to live in poverty rather taking about roles they rightly deserve. Read about a Christian headteacher forced out of his work (here)
“Pakistan as a nation claims to be a meritocracy and democracy but continues to behave like a theocracy. Yet international agencies and western nations that openly promote more egalitarian policies take no action and continue to mollycoddle Pakistan stating it is an emerging nation – 70 years on since its creation.
“Worse still the money from international grants offered to Pakistan by the US, Canada, Australia the UK and many other gullible western nations is being utilised to demonize and caricature minorities in textbooks and other media.
“The obvious realpolitik based on maintaining trade-agreements has stifled and destroyed progress in Pakistan.”
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British Pakistani Christian Association, is raising funds to help the family pay for the funeral costs for their son and to pay for a good quality solicitor. We need to raise £700 to fulfil this and interested donors can contribute by clicking (here)
