A leap of faith resulted in critical injury of Pakistan’s notorious Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) suspect Sajid Masih. Despite laying in hospital as he fights for his life he shared his account of the vile attempts to make him perform a sex act with his cousin Patras Masih the primary suspect in the blasphemy case, during a sordid FIA interrogation process. By jumping out of a window the brave Christian man prevented a homophobic backlash against the vulnerable Pak-Christian Community. A video can be watched (here)
On Saturday 3rd of March Pakistani Christians will be protesting outside the Lahore Press Club calling for a full investigation into the attacks on the two men, even if a suspect is found guilty- which has not happened in this case – no human should not be treated in this gross manner. BPCA believes them and is calling for the trumped up charges to be dropped by the judiciary and for the FIA officers involved in the violence to be stripped of their position and put on trial.
Event: Protest for Sajid and Patras Masih.
Date: 3rd March 2018
Time: 2pm
Location: Lahore Press Club, Shimla Hill, Davis Rd, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Please sign our petition (click here)
Protest organised by British Pakistani Christian Association. If you are in Lahore please join us whatever your background this protest is multi-faith and non-denominational. We challenge all people of good conscience to come and join us. Due to severe winter weather a protest outside 10 Downing Street, London was cancelled for 3pm today but will now be held on Sunday 4th March 2018 also at 3pm
More details…
A Christian man named Sajid Masih (25 yrs) whose cousin Patras Masih (17 yrs) was arrested for blasphemy on 19th February, found himself being tortured by Pakistan’s sadistic Federal Investigation Agency officials, who were seeking evidence of a blasphemy on his phone.
After a day of beatings and torture (22nd February) the young man leapt from a fourth floor window when he was being forcibly told to give oral sex to his cousin, an act which clashed with his beliefs and morals and was beyond what he was willing to do to save his life, despite duress from the pernicious FIA officials. The thought of defiling his cousin against Patras’s will and his own, shook him to the very core.
Sajid Masih miraculously survived the jump despite crashing onto a rooftop two floors down. Initially he was in a semi-conscious state (hearing but being unresponsive) but recovered full consciousness at Lahore General Hospital yesterday where he was able to give a full account of his attack. You can read the whole report on his leap of faith with a video testimony by clicking (here).
Sadly Sajid Masih remains in critical condition as a consequence of his injuries.
It is clear from the actions of the FIA officials that they were trying to use homophobic sentiments to further stir up hatred of Pakistan’s Christian minority. Sajid Masih’s ‘leap of faith’ may well have saved Lahore’s Christian community from a homophobic backlash. The nation of Pakistan is full of religious zealots who have been tormenting Christians for decades and an act like this may well have been for the end of all the residual Christians
living in their home town. Over 60% have already fled for safety after being threatened with a large-scale arson attack on their homes, in the wake of the blasphemy allegation (click here)
When the FIA officials called Sajid Masih to their headquarters before his accusers they found no evidence that Sajid Masih had blasphemed, so according to Sajid’s testimony to his lawyer they tried to force him to incriminate himself by roundly beating him several times to no avail.
To ramp up the pressure they then attempted to compel him to commit oral sex on Patras, which would have been regarded as an illegal “carnal act against the order of nature” in Pakistan.
LGBTQ+ publication Daily Xtra notes, “Pakistani law includes provisions against ‘obscenity’ and having ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature,’ making homosexual acts illegal, although the provisions are rarely enforced as the charges are difficult to prove.” (click here)
Unequivocally, had Sajid Masih complied with the demands of his captors they would have been able to “prove” he had broken Pakistani law. Even worse there would have been a room full of witnesses and potentially video evidence!
Nothing has changed since the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board documented the legal ramifications of homosexual acts in Pakistan in 29 November 2007 more than ten years ago. (click here) Here is an extract:
‘Homosexual acts are illegal in Pakistan (US 6 Mar. 2007, Sec. 5; ILGA Nov. 2006, 3; UN 21 Sept. 2006; New Internationalist 1 Mar. 2006). Under Section 377 of the country’s penal code, homosexuality is not explicitly mentioned, but “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” is punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment for a period of two years to life (UN 10 May 2005; Pakistan n.d.). Under the country’s Sharia law, introduced in 1990 (SodomyLaws.org 31 Mar. 2006), homosexual acts are punishable by corporal punishment (whipping), imprisonment, or death (ibid.; UN 21 Sept. 2006; see also BBC 5 Oct. 2005; ILGA Nov. 2006; New Internationalist 1 Mar. 2006).’
Sajid can only be praised for his valour in the face of his absolute terror. Rather than incriminating himself or sexually abusing his younger cousin at the demand of the twisted FIA officials, he took the opinion that his only option was to escape through an open window in his interrogation and torture chamber. BPCA do not for one minute think he sought to take his own life but simply sought to extricate himself from an untenable position.
Moreover, it is more than likely that he saw the protruding second floor and believed he would land more favourably then he had.
Worse still, it is with bemusement, chagrin and abject horror that we note FIA officials are now trying to charge him with the offence of taking his own life. Unable to press home charges on any other basis, it seems they are resorting to the most puerile behaviour. Shamefully none of them have exhibited any remorse. But then again why should they? The Pakistani Government has invested a deep purse, into training and hiring the best of the
best for an elite security force, perceived by them to be equal in quality to the FBI or SO6. These men will inexorably be protected from any further redress.
Sajid sensibly knew that engaging in the behaviour they were demanding would put him at further risk and likely require his life. However even his act of bravery is being used to hide the shameful activities of unscrupulous law enforcement and less than holy religious leaders. When they could find no other fault in him and Sajid Masih was injured trying to get away they had the nerve to charge him with suicide! These abusers of justice tried
unsuccessfully sought to procure incest knowing full well it would excite homophobic sentiments, inflame the general public, and give more reasons to target Christians for abuse.
As if what happened was not bad enough we are left to wonder what further atrocities would have happened if Sajid had not exited the scene and indeed what Patras is being subjected to by those holding him in custody in a culture that systemically blames the victim and not the perpetrator of sexual assault.
Those present in that room demonstrable show the highly sexualized manner in which the dominating men in the room surrounded the cousins and how beating and abusing them did not even seem to be enough for them. The frenzied mob mentality doesn’t just exist in the streets by those with petrol cans in hand, but right in the police headquarters where any accuser can essentially rape their victim and tear away every shred of human dignity for their own gratification.
A cultural loophole exists that allows Pakistani men sexually dominating other men to continue to view themselves as straight and therefore not breaking the letter of the law, but rather the man they are abusing is identified as homosexual even in non-consentual intercourse. According to them the male rape victim is seen at the criminal and the rapist a powerful masculine figure not acting outside what is considered “natural” and does nothing to affect the abusers self-concept. Daily Xtra writer and researcher Kaitlyn Bardswich reports a man known as “Ali” asserts that homosexual acts as a vehicle for power and male dominance in Pakistan:
“In macho Pakistani culture, having sex with a man — as long as you’re… “the top” — means you are the epitome of machismo. “It makes you super-straight,” says Ali (who asked that his name not be published). “You’re dominating a guy… You must be super masculine.”
“I’m going to sodomize you” is a common insult, Ali says,… It’s not a sexual threat, but an expression of domination, power and punishment, similar to an English expression like “I’m going to knock your teeth out.”
Legal and religious leaders watching and participating in sexually humiliating these young Pak-Christian men show the prevelance of draconian attitudes in Pakistan that allows even those considered upstanding citizens to brutalize other human beings for no other rationale other than they have a different religion. If these people with a proclivity for live pornography are the lawmen and the holy men of Pakistan, then is it any wonder that the appetite for snuff films such as those made by the killed who murdered Zanaib Ansari and the seven other little girls in Kasur is in such high demand!? (click here)
Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, said:
“This news has shattered what little confidence I had in Pakistan’s security forces.
“The sadistic actions of the FIA officers are in breach of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
which Pakistan has ratified as a nation.
“They also breach sexual harassment laws and are an alarming testament to the sexual deviation that we have long said exists within the Muslim population of Pakistan, due to sexual repression in Islam and the brutal un-inspected madrassa training centres across Pakistan where sexual assault is common-place.
“The audacity of the FIA to place suicide charges on a man simply trying to escape torture and praying for his life to be saved from the debauchery of his assailants, is a risible act. We must completely condemn the actions of the FIA in their entirety as a global collective.
“We must thank God that our prayers and his answer to them have resulted in the restoration of Sajid’s life. Such a miracle and the resulting video are a purposeful revelation of the sordid and corrupt activity of Pakistan’s FIA who will now have to face global scrutiny of their unconventional and illegal torture practices.”
