[Today’s Prayer] Pakistani Christian detained for social media post

A Christian in Pakistan has been arrested by federal agents for a Facebook post that was made without his consent.

According to Christian Daily International (CDI), officials from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested and detained Arsalan Gill, 24, in Mughalpura, Lahore, Punjab, on March 17.

Arsalan Gill’s family, a Catholic, was shocked when they learned late that night that he had been arrested and charged for sharing blasphemous content on Facebook. “FIA officials did not allow me to meet my brother that night,” said his brother Suleman Gill.

“I was able to meet him briefly the next morning. He said that people he did not know had added him to two groups on Facebook and that he had no idea about the content being shared,” Gill told CDI-Morning Star News (MSN).

The FIA ​​has charged Arsalan Gil under several sections of Pakistan’s widely misused blasphemy laws, including Section 295-C, which carries a mandatory death sentence. He has also been charged under Section 11 of Pakistan’s Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years for preparing or disseminating information through an information system or device that promotes or is likely to promote interfaith, sectarian or racial hatred.

Human rights activists say it is highly likely that Arsalan Gil was targeted by a “blasphemy ring” that falsely implicated hundreds of innocent Christians in online blasphemy cases using internet sexual sites, according to the National Human Rights Commission and the Punjab Police Special Branch.

“In all cases registered by the Anti-Blasphemy Unit under the Cybercrime Division of the FIA, their method is the same,” said Lazar Allah Rakha, a lawyer. “The unit is colluding with Islamic lawyers and activists to implicate innocent youths in false blasphemy cases to extort money and blatantly abuse blasphemy laws to defend other interests.”

“My father worked as a daily labourer and my brother and I worked as cleaners. We live in a rented house and can barely afford the family’s daily expenses. In this situation, we have no idea how to proceed with legal action to secure my brother’s release,” said Suleman Gil.

The Islamabad High Court on February 2 recommended the Pakistani government to form a four-member committee to investigate the alleged collusion between the FIA ​​and Islamic clerics. The conspiracy has implicated more than 400 innocent civilians, including Christians, in false blasphemy cases over the past two years.

Justice Ejaz Ishaq Khan directed that the committee should include retired High Court or Supreme Court judges, retired senior FIA officials, enlightened scholars and senior information technology professionals who have worked in public service and have demonstrated their commitment to it, and their presence on the committee would be of great help in resolving technically complex issues.

The order came in response to a petition filed by families of more than 100 people who were accused by the FIA ​​of sharing blasphemous content online.

(Omitted)

Pakistan ranks 8th on Open Doors’ 2025 list of countries where Christians are persecuted.

Source: Christian Today

The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous. (Prov. 15:29)

We hear the sad news that a Pakistani Christian was added to a Facebook group without his consent and was detained because the shared content of the group contained blasphemous content.

While the National Human Rights Commission and the Punjab Police Special Investigation Team are looking into the possibility that this incident is a false implication of a blasphemy group targeting Christians, may the God of justice hear the prayer of the righteous and save the Christians of Pakistan.

Please let the global church and the Pakistani church speak out about the fact that over the past two years, more than 400 innocent Pakistani citizens, including Christians, have been unjustly imprisoned due to false blasphemy cases.

God who keeps away the wicked, please change the evil laws of Pakistan and give Pakistan a great revival that even the blasphemy law cannot stop.

For this work, please let the Pakistani church proclaim the love and gospel of Jesus’ cross and not back down from any hardship so that a spiritual awakening can take place in Pakistan.

May Pakistan restore the glory of the holy nation before the throne of God and Jesus Christ and fulfill the mission of sanctifying the nations with the cross!