Pakistan: "Untouchable" Christian beaten

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) - In the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Christians are considered to be "untouchable" and as such are often relegated to lowly labor employment.

According to International Christian Concern, Khaleel Masih is a 42-year-old Christian who supports his family by selling ice-cream. Masih often has to leave his own city and travel through its surrounding villages to reach enough customers to eke out a living. But last month when Masih was in a village in the Kasur district he was accused of selling tainted merchandise to Muslim children. A mob of about 20 Muslims then began to beat him and scatter his "unclean" ice cream to the ground.
"Christians are untouchables," yelled the mob. "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."
As part of the lowest social caste in Pakistan, Christians are often assigned to only sanitation jobs. And because many Pakistani Islamists believe Christians defile everything they touch, they forbid them to sell either food or drink to their fellow Muslims.