ISLAMABAD, April 11 (AFP) - A Pakistani Christian teacher has been jailed under harsh Muslim blasphemy laws because his private classes were attracting more students than a nearby Muslim school, Christian activists said Wednesday.
Parvez Masih was arrested on April 1 under Pakistan's draconian Blasphemy Act, which carries a maximum penalty of death, for allegedly uttering words against the Prophet Mohammad, members of the Christian Liberation Front said.
Front President Shahbaz Bhatti said the accusations against Masih, who is in jail pending trial, originated from a Muslim school in the same village of Sialkot district, central Punjab province.
"The school of Parvez Masih, because of its good standard and high reputation, attracted more students and hence ... his school was more successful," Bhatti said.
Senior figures at the Muslim school "could not tolerate that a Christian teacher enjoyed a good reputation as a successful and dedicated educationist."
He said prominent members of the majority Muslim community in Chailayke village agreed Masih was a "victim of hate, jealousy and religious extremism" but they were powerless to stop the blasphemy case.
"Extremist Islamic groups have announced that those pleading for Mr Parvez Masih and those found helping him would be dealt with severely," Bhatti said, adding the "situation has become very volatile" for the 20 Christian families in the village.
"It has also been announced in the Bar Council of Sialkot that any lawyer taking up (Masih's) case ... would be killed."
Sunni Muslim extremist groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Sipah-i-Sahaba (SSP) have strong support bases in Sialkot.
SSP activists have been accused of murdering members of the rival Shiite sect in sectarian violence which has claimed thousands of lives from both communities in recent years.
Pakistan's military government has vowed to rein in religious extremists, but it has made little headway.
Shortly after the October 1999 coup, military ruler General Pervez Musharraf was forced into an embarrassing climbdown over plans to make blasphemy cases more difficult to register.
Human rights activists say the blasphemy laws are too often used to settle personnal rivalries, and the accused rarely receive fair trials.
Bhatti said there were also questions over whether Muslim blasphemy laws could be applied to Christians and other religious minorities.