January 2018 Persecution Magazine

Left Christian students in Pakistani schools
often face intense persecution at the hands of
their teachers and peers.
Arsalan Masih
On October 9, the unthinkable happened
again. Arsalan Masih, a 15-year-old
Christian boy, was attending tutoring lessons
at the Ideal Science Academy in Jhabran village,
also in Punjab, when he was attacked
by a group of police officers.
According to witnesses, seven police officers
identified Arsalan, grabbed him by the
collar, and began savagely beating him with
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fists, batons, and gun butts. Arsalan’s teacher
tried to intervene, but was pushed aside by
the officers.
Mushtaq Masih, Arsalan’s father, told the
media, “Arsalan was in visible pain and
was screaming for the men to stop. [Police
Constable] Rashid struck Arsalan’s head
with a pistol which created a bleed. When
they put him into the police van, Arsalan
collapsed and died. Later, the police threw
Arsalan’s body on the roadside and fled.”
What motivated the savage assault?
According to Arsalan’s mother, Arsalan got
into a fight with a Muslim boy who had been
bullying him and pressuring him to convert
to Islam. The bully Arsalan fought with was
the nephew of Constable Sardar Bilu, one of
the seven police officers who killed Arsalan.
As the only Christian in his class, Arsalan
was separated for religious studies and
would meet with a Catholic priest while the
rest of the class met with an imam. After a
few weeks, Muslim classmates began telling
Arsalan that he needed to convert to
Islam. Over time, these interactions became
increasingly aggressive and insulting, leading
to the fight that cost Arsalan his life.
“Arsalan was killed because he refused to
convert and was a brilliant student,” Mushtaq
told ICC. “He wanted to become an engineer
and serve the Christian community.”
Pakistan’s Jim Crow
To understand the motivation behind these
murders, one doesn’t need to look far back
into America’s own history. The discrimination
and disdain with which Christians in
Pakistan are treated is similar to that experienced
by African Americans in the Jim
Crow South.
For many Pakistani Muslims, Christians
are considered dirty and deserving of their
low status. This is why there is such an overreaction
to perceived slights by members of
Pakistan’s Christian community.
Unfortunately, Pakistan’s own education
system perpetuates this intolerance.
By allowing teachers to mock and abuse
Christian children without consequence, the
atmosphere of religious intolerance that led
to the murders of Sharoon and Arsalan will
persist and likely grow.
“Being Christian is a ‘punishment’ in
Pakistan,” Mushtaq told ICC. “Mostly
Christians do sanitation work because they
did not get an education. Now I think to
save the lives of our children we should
avoid sending them to school. At least they
will survive.”
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