Caught On Camera: Pakistani Man Threatens Christian Woman Security Guard With False Blasphemy Case Over Parking Dispute

A Muslim man employed with Pakistan government has been caught on camera threatening a Christian woman security guard of getting maulanas (Islamic clerics) on the spot and falsely accusing her of blasphemy of Islam. The spat was over a parking dispute, as per reports.

As per various reports by Pakistani newspapers, the incident occurred at Jinnah International Airport’s cargo area on Thursday.

The woman guard was reprimanding a man for allowing an acquaintance’s vehicle through the security area without a valid vehicle pass and number plate. The man began threatening her that he would “call the maulanas” and get her booked for insult of Islam and Islam’s Prophet.

“I am mad and I will cut you up,” the man says, to which the woman replies that he was free to implicate a Christian woman in a blasphemy case but it was he who was disrespecting his religion.

A video of the verbal exchange can be watched here.

It was later revealed that the man is employed with the Civil Aviation Authority and is named Saleem. The woman is also employed with the CAA and is named Samina Mushtaq.

The CAA spokesperson told the media that after an investigation, the male employee was dismissed from the service. Reports have not made it clear if the man has been sacked or suspended pending inquiry.

Among prominent voices who criticised the incident publicly included former president and Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, who said, “Accusation of blasphemy is a very dangerous act… The government and the people must discourage such thinking.”

In Pakistan, false accusations are often used by the majority Muslim community against minority Hindu, Sikh and Christian members over trivial matters as a means of persecution. Several such cases have led to lynching of the victims.

In 2021, a Christian manager of a factory was accused of blasphemy by some of his team members over not being given the day off to attend a political rally. The manager, who was a Sri Lankan, was lynched by a mob at the factory and his body was set on fire.

In 2019, a Hindu school principal was accused by a Muslim student of insulting Prophet Mohammed in a class and was recently sentenced to jail. The student, in a soon-deleted social media post, confessed to his friends that he lied as he had not done his homework. In the court however the student testified against the principal.

Read more about Pakistan’s harsh blasphemy laws and their misuse here.