The men were arrested in the town of Gujrat, in the eastern province of Punjab, after police spotted posters marking the 20th anniversary of the death of priest Fazal Masih that referred to him using the Urdu word for Prophet.
In Pakistan and rest of Muslim world, the word is used only for Prophets (PBUH) of Allah and anyone claiming to be one is liable to be charged under blasphemy laws, which can carry the death penalty.
“We have arrested three men, including the son of the priest, because they used the word Prophet for the late Fazal Masih,” local police station chief Shahid Tanveer told AFP.
He said officers had summoned local Muslim clerics and elders of the Christian community to the police station to consult them on the matter.
The Christians organising the event apologised and asked forgiveness, saying they had used the word to celebrate Fazal Masih’s services to religion, but the Muslim clerics refused to accept the apology, he added.
Tanveer said that a case under anti-terrorism law had been registered against the organiser and three men had been arrested while 11 others were at large.
The Supreme Court agreed last month to hear an appeal by a Christian woman against her death sentence for blasphemy, lawyers said, in a case that has drawn criticism from rights campaigners.
Asia Bibi, a mother of five, has been on death row since 2010 after being convicted of blasphemy of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) during a row over drinking water with Muslim women with whom she was working in a field.
