GLOBAL PRAYER NETWORK: Pakistani Christian beaten by mob for selling ice cream to Muslims

Senin, 20 Juni 2016

Pakistani Christian beaten by mob for selling ice cream to Muslims

By Mark Ellis, Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

PAKISTAN (ANS - June 20, 2016) -- Khaleel Masih, 42, was beaten and abused by an angry mob for selling ice cream to Muslim women and children.

The incident took place on May 17, 2016, in a village in District Kasur. “Christians are untouchables,” the mob chanted while beating him, according to Jamil Thomas, CEO of Aim4Faith Ministries, based in Pakistan.

Because of Masih’s perceived low status, the crowd thought he should not be allowed to sell food to Muslims.

Masih said that two Muslim villagers, Muhammad Farman and Muhammad Rizwan, approached him and started abusing and humiliating him as he attempted to sell ice cream, calling him “Choora,” which means low-caste, a term oftentimes used to deride Christians.

“They called me Choora, and then they began accusing me of selling unclean merchandise to Muslim children,” Masih reported. “I wanted to argue and make them understand that this was not true but they did not listen to me. Instead, they began to beat and torture me.”

After the initial assault by the two Muslim men, a mob of about twenty others started beating him ferociously. They also damaged his bicycle and spilled his ice-cream on the ground, according to Aim4Faith (http://www.aim4faith.org).

During the beating, Muslim men and women bystanders started chanting: “Christians are untouchables! They are not followers of our holy prophet. They are meant for cleaning our houses and therefore should not be allowed to sell anything edible to Muslims.”

Masih, who was severely injured as a result of the beating, said, “I was attacked, beaten and abused for selling ice-cream to Muslim children and women.”

Photo captions: 1) Ice cream sellers in Pakistan. 2) Mark Ellis.

About the writer: Mark Ellis is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net), and also founder of www.GodReports.com, a website that shares stories, testimonies and videos from the church around the world. He is also co-host for "Widows on the World" with ANS Founder, Dan Wooding, which is airred weeekly on the Holy Spirit Broadcasting Network (http://hsbn.tv).