On April 10, two young Muslims in Lahore assaulted and set fire to a 14-year-old boy after they discovered he was Christian. They were on their way to mosque for Friday prayers when they happened upon the Christian youth, known only as Nauman. They forced him to stop and asked him which religion he followed. When he confessed his Christian faith they immediately began pounding on him and then set him on fire. Currently being treated in a hospital, Nauman has burns covering more than 55 percent of his body. In the Christian youth's own words:

I told them that I am Christian. They started beating me, when I tried running, both boys started following me through the street and then they threw Kerosene on me and burnt me. I kept on running when a heap of sand came my way, I lied down on the sand … [A] few people from the community … [extinguished] fire by putting sand on me. I became unconscious, and they called 1122 Emergency medical helpline and called [for] an ambulance.

Update: On April 14, Nauman died mysteriously in the hospital.

Coptic Solidarity

On April 12, Easter Sunday according to the Orthodox calendar, the churches of Egypt’s Christian minorities—Coptic Orthodox and Protestants—were, as usual, under attack. According to Egyptian media, three explosions took place in Zagazig vicinity on Sunday to coincide with Easter celebrations. Two targeted churches.

The first explosion—which was placed under a parked car—took place near St. George Church (others call it St. Joseph Church). Soon after it, another bomb exploded near the Evangelical Church in the same area.

Unlike the many attacks on Coptic churches and persons that took place all throughout Easter Week—from attacks on other churches, proposed and to be renovated, to attacks on “blasphemers”—these latest attacks appear to have been carried out by formal Islamic terrorist organizations in Egypt (colloquially known as “ISIS in Egypt”) and not just angry Muslim mobs.

Although no injuries occurred, large numbers of casualties could have easily resulted, based on precedent. For example, on January 1, 2011, as Egypt’s Christians ushered in the New Year, car bombs went off near the Two Saints Church in Alexandria, resulting in 23 dead worshippers and dozens critically injured.

Update: On Sunday, April 5, as Coptic Christians were celebrating Palm Sunday, yet another church was attacked in Alexandria, Egypt. Gunmen in a vehicle opened fire on the church during the night injuring a police officer and two civilians.

Reporting on Muslim persecution of Christians — that is, exposing it to the public — comes with a price. For Pakistan's Shamim Masih, a Christian reporter, that price was a sound beating and threats to his family.

On March 29, Masih was attacked in Islamabad by two men on a motorcycle. According to the leader of the Pakistan Christian Congress party, Nazir S Bhatti “The motorbike riders got down from their bike and started beating Shamim Masih.... [They] broke his arm and warned him that if he did not stop reporting on Christian issues, they knew his family and home and would teach him and his family a lesson.”

As usual, police failed to register the incident. In the words of Bhatti: “as Shamim Masih is a Christian journalist…the police and administration are not paying any attention or interest to investigate this incident."

A couple days later, the brother of a Christian human rights activist was shot in an assassination attempt, and a few days earlier more motorcycle-riding jihadis opened fire on a Christian church.