Christian professor, students threatened

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Muslim students attacked a Christian professor at Peshawar University College in Hayatabad in June after he refused their demand to convert to Islam, the instructor said. Psychology professor Samuel John, a father of four who has been teaching at the university for 12 years, said as he came out of his house on the university campus at 8:30 a.m. June 14, about 20 to 25 students rushed and assaulted him. When his wife learned what was happening she ran to help him, but the students beat her as well. Both John and his wife were rushed to Lady Reading Hospital, where they were treated for their injuries. John is listed in critical condition. “I am still getting threats,” John said. “They say, ‘Leave the university or accept Islam. If you don’t convert, we will kill your family.’”

Police have refused to register a First Information Report on the incident, he said. Separately, in Danna village in southern Punjab province, Muslim administrators told three Christian students in the eighth grade to leave the school because they refused to convert to Islam. A new teacher of Islamic studies at Government High School Danna urged students in his class — Sunil Masih, Shazia Masih and Nasir Naeem — to convert to Islam, said Ejaz Masih, the father of Sunil. The parents complained to the principal, who told them, under pressure from other teachers, to remove their children from the school, Ejaz Masih said. The families have fled the area with their children.