E/CN.4/1993/62 page 79 anonymous handwritten pamphlets which appeared on the village walls. According to the information received, Farooq Ahmed, 20, a student and son of the local butcher, called Mr. Ahmer outside his office at the District Education Department under the pretext that he had a message for him, hit him on the head and stabbed him 17 times before cutting his throat. When he was questioned at the office of the Superintendent of the District Jail why he had killed Mr. Ahmer, Farooq Ahmed reportedly answered that he had heard in the village that a Christian schoolteacher had insulted the Prophet, adding that Mr. Ahmer never did so in his presence. It has been reported that when Farooq Ahmed told the policemen who arrested him why he had committed the murder, several of them kissed him. Farooq Ahmed allegedly stated that he felt no guilt for the crime he had committed as he felt it was his religious duty and because numerous members of the clergy and teachers told him that he would be released on bail. They are reported to have told his father that his son had rendered a great service to religion and to have congratulated him. It has also been alleged that the Muslim community has been exerting pressure on the authorities to have Farooq Ahmed charged with manslaughter rather than premeditated murder. According to the sources, Mr. Naimat Ahmer was posted three years ago as headmaster of the Miani High School at chak No. 247 and is said to have become popular with his students because of his teaching methods. A number of teachers reportedly became envious of Mr. Ahmer because he was a Christian who was running the school without asking them for guidance, and tried to turn the students against him, to no avail. They succeeded, however, in having the Education Department conduct an inquiry concerning Mr. Ahmer for lack of discipline. No evidence was found. Mr. Ahmer’s adversaries nevertheless managed to have him transferred to the post of senior schoolteacher at the Zamindar High School in the village of Dasuha near Faisalabad, chak No. 242. A number of teachers once again unsuccessfully tried to turn the students against Mr. Ahmer, as they reportedly wanted Mr. Allah Ditta, the uncle of Farooq Ahmed who subsequently killed Mr. Ahmer, to be appointed in his place. On 18 December 1991, an anonymous handwritten pamphlet appeared on the walls of the school, houses and shops in the village, accusing a Christian teacher of disgracing Islam and spreading anti-Islamic propaganda. The headmaster of the school was asked to inform the police and Education Department that a Christian teacher had insulted the Prophet and a committee of teachers was appointed to conduct an inquiry. All of Mr. Ahmer’s students reportedly indicated that he had never said anything against Islam. Fearing for his safety, Mr. Ahmer is reported to have sought a transfer from Zamindar High School and was subsequently transferred to the District Education Office in Faisalabad. It was reported that a direct witness to Mr. Ahmer’s alleged blasphemy has never been found and that he was a victim of hearsay and professional enmity. Tahir Iqbal, 32, an Associate Engineer with the Pakistan Air Force who had retired for medical reasons, died on 19 July 1992 in Kotlakhpat Central Prison in Lahore. Mr. Iqbal, who was confined to a wheelchair, had converted to Christianity in 1989 and went to live at the Nishat Christian Colony in Lahore. He was imprisoned on 7 December 1990 on charges of defiling the name of the Prophet Mohammad and desecrating the Koran. Mr. Iqbal had allegedly underlined a number of verses and wrote notes on the margin of an English