Evangelist in Pakistan shot, killed by unidentified gunman

KARACHI, Pakistan — An evangelist was shot dead Nov. 16 by an unidentified gunman in what his family believes was a radical Muslim group’s targeting of a Christian.

Zahid Jameel, 25, told Compass Direct News that his father, Jameel Saawan, and a helper were opening the doors of their cosmetics shop in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal area of Karachi on the morning of Nov. 16 when a young man appeared and shot his father, first in the neck and then in the face. The young assassin fled on a motorcycle on which two people were waiting, keeping watch for him, Jameel said.

Jameel’s father had not spoken of any threats on his life in recent weeks, though he had received threats after voicing his desire to start a welfare organization for poor Christians in the Essanagri area of Karachi two years ago, he said.

“We firmly believe that my father was killed because of his preaching of the Bible, because there is no other reason,” Jameel said. Michael Javed, a former member of the Sindh provincial assembly, told Compass that he had known the victim for several years, as both of them are from Quetta. “Saawan was a very good man,” Javed said.