A Christian man in Pakistan reportedly had both his arms chopped off recently by an angry mob of Muslims after he refused to convert to Islam. According to advocate groups and witnesses, local police have refused, allegedly like in so many cases regarding Christian religious persecution, to say anything about the matter and have not even arrested the suspects. But subsequent reports indicate that the man is not the latest example of Christian persecution but the victim of a run-in with something entirely different.

The Clarion Project reported July 14 that Aqeel Masih was working at a gas station in Lahore, Pakistan, and had been the subject of increased pressure to convert to Islam by co-workers and management alike. A Christian, Masih had avoided his co-workers’ ministries until the day they allegedly kidnapped him and took him to a secret location to forcefully convert him. But when he refused to renounce his Christian beliefs, three or four of the Islamist extremists became enraged and chopped off his arms. They then tossed him into the road to bleed out.

Fortunately for Masih, he was soon discovered by a group of people who were unaware of the attack and who took him to the hospital. He remained there for three weeks recuperating from his wounds.

The Clarion Project, an activist organization existing to promote awareness of Islamic extremism, reports that the man, after being released from the hospital, went to the police. The police registered the complaint but did not make any subsequent arrests. They also, according to the report, forbade Aqeel Masih to speak to the reporters, the press having by then heard about the violent attack and Masih’s having had both arms chopped off. And since it was not carried by local and national news services, the story got out of Pakistan, according to The Clarion Project, due to local Christian media and human rights groups.

But Pakistan Today, a newspaper that covers Lahore, Karachi, and the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, launched an investigation into the story. They quickly found that Aqeel Masih had reported the violent assault to the police on July 12, stating that he had been attacked by three Muslim men on June 24 who had chopped off both his arms for not recanting his Christianity. He also noted that he had been unconscious for days, which was why he was late in reporting the incident.

Pakistan Today acquired corroboration from a close family member, Martha Kamal, who said Masih had indeed had both arms chopped off for refusing to renounce his Christian faith and convert to Islam. She told the newspaper that the Muslims had taken Masih to a railroad track and used an axe to chop off his arms when he refused to convert. Kamal, a member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and a close aide to MPA (Member of Provincial Assembly) Mary Gill, said MPA Gill and MPA colleague Shahzad Munshi were in the process of registering a case of forced conversion and bodily harm to Aqeel Masih.

But MPA Munshi, after being invited down to the police station to look at the case (due to his ties to the Christian community) and discovering conflicts within Masih’s statement, found reason to believe something was amiss. “Some Christian NGOs and a website called Christians in Pakistan are trying to play those statements from a persecution angle,” he said, noting that he did not believe Aqeel Masih had his arms chopped off because he was a Christian.

Pakistan Today found locals who knew Aqeel Masih and they alleged that Masih was a heroin addict that got both arms chopped off when he ran afoul of a Pathan drug trafficking gang after he informed on them to police.

The man in charge of the police investigation, Imran Khan, told the paper that a preliminary enquiry indicated that Aqeel Masih’s arms were chopped off in a train accident. According to Khan, police had no knowledge of reports regarding any involvement of a drug gang with regard to the incident.

Federal Minister for Human Rights Kamran Michael told Pakistan Today, “The medico-legal report states that Aqeel Masih’s hands were chopped off by the train.” He said that he would be traveling to Lahore to investigate further.

According to the newspaper, although many of the Christian NGOs operating in Pakistan were doing exemplary work, others had become interested in photo-ops in order to gain additional funding from abroad. It was also noted that some top-ranking Christian officials have been criticized for presenting certain incidents to enhance their own profile rather than actually helping the real persecuted Christians in Pakistan.

According to a January report (per CNN) by Open Doors USA, a watchdog group that acts as an advocacy for Christians, more than 7,100 Christians were killed in 2015 for “faith-related reasons.” This was up 3,000 from 2014, a year that had also seen a record number of modern Christian persecutions (also an Open Doors USA report, via Religion News Service). Pakistan ranked No. 6 on the group’s list of the world’s countries with acts of religious persecution against Christians.

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