Members of an Islamic extremist
political party in Pakistan have forcibly
converted a mentally challenged Catholic and
are pressuring his family to renounce their
faith, a relative said.
Adnan Bashir, 40, wandered out of his home in
Gujjar Khan, Punjab Province on April 14 and
inadvertently walked into a sit-in protest of the
Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), said his
brother, Fayyaz Bashir.
“One Mumtaz Ahmed and some others forced
him to publicly recite the Kalima (proclamation
of Muhammad’s prophethood, signaling
conversion to Islam) and converted him to
Islam,” Fayyaz Bashir told Morning Star News,
adding that his younger brother has been under
treatment for a mental disorder since 2018.
A few hours later acquaintances informed him
by telephone that a video of his brother reciting
the Kalima at the TLP demonstration was going
viral on social media, Fayyaz Bashir said. Back
home that evening, Adnan Bashir told his
brother and other family members that he was
watching the protestors when Ahmed, his
former employer, offered him sherbet on the
condition that he join the demonstrators.
“Mumtaz is also a local leader of the TLP, and
he used the opportunity to force my brother to
say the Kalima in the presence of the charged
mobs,” Fayyaz Bashir said, adding that they
renamed him Khadim Hussain after his
“conversion.”
Safdar Chaudhry, chief executive of prisoner
welfare group Raah-e-Nijaat Ministry, a
Christian organization based in Rawalpindi,
said Adnan Bashir has denied converting to
Islam.
“When Adnan’s family contacted me for
support, I brought him to Rawalpindi and
admitted him to a hospital for treatment. When
I asked Adnan about his conversion to Islam,
he outright denied it, saying he’s a Christian,”
Chaudhry told Morning Star News. “It’s obvious
that Mumtaz Ahmed exploited Adnan’s mental
condition for ulterior motives, but this has put
the entire family and community members at
serious risk.”
Fayyaz Bashir said his brother had been
hospitalized in 2018 at the Government Benazir
Bhutto Hospital in Rawalpindi after his
condition was discovered. Married with two
children, Adnan Bashir began working at a
shop owned by Ahmed after he was discharged
from the hospital.
“Adnan left the job after some months after his
condition again deteriorated,” Fayyaz Bashir
said. “We live in a joint family, and it was
decided that we would financially support
Adnan and his family so that he doesn’t have to
suffer from work-related mental stress.”
After the video spread on social media, the
family started receiving phone calls from
Muslim acquaintances and some unknown
callers, he said.
“The callers congratulated us over Adnan’s
conversion and asked when the rest of us
would also embrace Islam,” he said. “Some
others are threatening us with serious
consequences in case we ‘force’ Adnan to
revert, warning that apostasy is punishable
with death in Islam.”
The family is facing a serious security threat
as TLP members are monitoring their
movement, Fayyaz Bashir said.
“Our lives have become miserable due to the
threats and surveillance by TLP activists,” he
said. “Our children keep asking what will
happen to them, as their Muslim friends keep
raising this issue. We can neither seek help
from the police or any other government or
religious leader, because everyone is fearful of
the TLP, and also because this matter can
easily be turned into a religious issue.”
Rise of TLP
The TLP was founded by hard-line Barelvi cleric
Khadim Hussain Rizvi after the 2011
assassination of former Punjab Gov. Salmaan
Taseer.
Taseer was gunned down by his police
bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri, for speaking in
favor of Pakistan’s most high-profile
blasphemy convict, Aasiya Noreen, better
known as Asia Bibi, who was sentenced to die
before she was acquitted. Since its inception,
TLP members have engaged in violent protests
across the country and are a driving force
behind the increase in blasphemy cases and
related attacks in Punjab and Sindh provinces.
The violent organization has not only forced
government officials to surrender to its
demands on several occasions but has also
found support within the armed forces of
Pakistan. On April 12 police, acting on orders
of the federal government, arrested TLP chief
Hafiz Saad Rizvi, son of Khadim Rizvi, who had
announced that the group would besiege the
federal capital on April 20 for failing to act
against France over caricatures deemed
blasphemous to Islam last year.
Protests erupted in several Muslim countries
last year over France’s response to the killing
of a history teacher beheaded by an 18-year-
old man of Chechen origin for showing
cartoons of Muhammad, prophet of Islam, in a
class on freedom of speech. At the time, the
Pakistani government signed a deal with TLP
promising to present a resolution in parliament
by April 20 seeking expulsion of the French
ambassador and boycotting French products.
Saad Rizvi’s arrest plunged Pakistan into
chaos for nearly a week as charged mobs
blocked major highways and roads, attacked
government and private property, killed at least
five policemen and seriously injured more than
850 others.
In retaliation, the federal government declared
TLP as a proscribed organization and
announced it would ask the Supreme Court to
revoke the party’s registration with the Election
Commission of Pakistan.
The government on April 14 issued a statement
that it has “reasonable grounds to believe that
the TLP is engaged in terrorism, [has] acted in
a manner prejudicial to the peace and security
of the country, [was] involved in creating
anarchy in the country by intimidating the
public, caused grievous bodily harm, hurt and
death to the personnel of law enforcement
agencies and innocent by-standers, attacked
civilians and officials, created wide-scale
hurdles, threatened, abused and promoted
hatred, vandalized and ransacked public and
government properties including vehicles and
caused arson, blocked essential health supplies
to hospitals, and has threatened, coerced,
intimidated, and overawed the government
[and] the public and created a sense of fear and
insecurity in the society and the public at
large.”
The government move failed to deter the TLP,
and though hundreds of members were taken
into custody, the party continued to hold
several cities hostage by blocking roads and
entry and exit points. Prime Minister Imran
Khan repeatedly claimed that the government
would not succumb to the TLP’s demands, but
he ultimately capitulated and released Rizvi and
all other TLP members in custody.
The prime minister has since filed a resolution
in parliament for debate over expelling the
French ambassador from Pakistan.
The U.S. State Department on Dec. 7 re-
designated Pakistan among nine other
“Countries of Particular Concern” for severe
violations of religious freedom. Previously
Pakistan had been added to the list on Nov. 28,
2018.
Pakistan ranked fifth on Christian support
organization Open Doors 2021 World Watch list
of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to
be a Christian.
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