Tensions flared over the weekend in 186/9-L village, Sahiwal, Punjab Province, when members of the Islamist extremist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan called for protests against the alleged blasphemy after the TikTok post by 27-year-old Ehsaan Shan Masih went viral.

“A major crisis was averted due to timely action by the police, otherwise the entire Christian community of Sahiwal was in a state of perpetual fear since Saturday afternoon,” Bishop Abraham Daniel of the Sahiwal Baptist Church told Morning Star News.

He was arrested on Saturday night after police took him and his family into protective custody. Masih is in jail on judicial remand and could face years of incarceration before his case is resolved. Among other charges, he was charged under Section 295-A of Pakistan’s blasphemy statutes relating to “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs,” punishable by up to ten years in prison, a fine or both.

Source: christianpost.com