Christian man struggles to have his religion correctly listed on official documents
The Pakistani Christian man was a victim of fake conversion to Islam. When the case of fake conversion became known, he appealed to change his religion officially back to Christianity. At first his appeal was rejected, but now a court has overruled the previous decision.
A 24-year-old Pakistani Christian man has become the victim of fake conversion. The man’s boss listed him under a different name and put his religious affiliation as Muslim. The victim being illiterate did not sense the forgery and put his thumbprint on the contract form. Upon finding out the forgery, he appealed for his information to be corrected on the official documents. Even though he testified his Christian faith multiple times in front of the court and the cleric and the two people who witnessed the alleged conversion did not appear on court despite the numerous notices, the court ruled that he cannot change his religious affiliation back.
“Islam teaches that everyone is Muslim at birth, but [that] the parents and society cause one to deviate from the straight path. Therefore, when someone accepts Islam, he is considered to revert to his original condition.”
Justified his decision Judge Mian Usman Tariq, who rejected the Christian man’s appeal in May this year. But there is still hope for the young man, as the Pattoki District Court, Kasur District, Punjab Province, Pakistan, has overruled the previous decision made by the civil court. Sumera Shafique, the Christian man’s attorney, said that this decision could help in the cases of countless Christians in similar situations.
“There are several cases in which the religion of Christians has been intentionally or mistakenly registered as Muslim in the national database. A large number of the Christian population in Pakistan is unable to read or write, which is why they often tend to overlook the religion section in the form.”
According to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International, the lower court’s decision violated Pakistani and international law as well. Tehmina Arora, director of ADF, welcomed the court’s decision and expressed the importance of it in highlighting the many cases similar to this one.
