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Today all day long I have been anxious and tense. As I write this story Christians in Pakistan face the bleakest night of their existence.
On Sunday 15th March 2015 at 6am GMT two suicide bombers, coupled with one armed gunmen each, made their way to Christ Church in the Church of Pakistan and St Johns Catholic Church. The suicide bombers were noticed by volunteer security teams at the respective churches who grabbed the bombers at the gates, preventing them entry into the church and in the process saving hundreds of lives. Even then 17 were killed and 82 injured.
The bombers’ intent was to divide a nation with masses of existing schism, a country whose constitution names it the “Islamic Republic of Pakistan, in which Islam is the national faith. Sadly those extremists, who belonged to Tehreek-e-Taliban Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, an affiliate of the Taliban, achieved what they wanted. In a mad frenzy that ensued after the murder and injury to so many innocents, a group of young Christian men beat and burned alive two men believed to be accompanying gunmen.
After this some rioting took place that caused the destruction of private and public property. In the main Christians held peaceful protests, however, Pakistani media painted a different picture and with their biased filming practice have created great anger towards the Christian community. For the last week Pakistani news teams have been focusing on the “higher value Muslim lives’ that have been lost, rather then the 17 lives and 82 casualties of the twin bombings. Pakistani police have cracked down on the Christian community, arresting over 250 young Christian men, for alleged protesting despite the Christian community having given up 47 names for the correct culprits. Moreover, they have harshly beaten and tortured many of these men and other innocent Christians.
Local man Yousaf Masih said;
“Police have surrounded the town of Youhanabad with a ring of police who have been ogling our girls and women, and have bullied and beat any men wearing crosses on their cars or person.”
Despite the mitigating circumstance of the bombing and the believed gunmen status of the men killed, the Christian attackers have been deemed terrorists and will be hanged if convicted.
I should add here the BPCA does not condone extra-judicial killing, but believes the mental state of the men involved in the attack would have been impaired by the explosion. They should still be brought to justice but mitigation should affect the severity of punishment.
Pakistani Government has allowed media malpractice and bias to stir up hatred, which has culminated in numerous threats that a retaliatory attack will be taken on churches in Lahore tomorrow. Young Christian men have all agreed to be volunteer security on the day, including two of my wife’s brothers. There is a great fear that churches will be attacked during their services, as this is a fairly common occurrence in Pakistan. My wife is inconsolable and has been awash with tears, while she has been praying all day.
I have asked the Pakistan High Commission to provide extra security to churches in Lahore, after being notified of threats being given to churches. The Pakistan High Commission have asked for evidence, so I called for letters from churches and was informed by pastors that they are too fearful of retribution from the Government to implicate themselves by writing letters of this nature. So I am rendered powerless to help.
Many of the towns folk have left their homes locked and fled the impending attack by travelling to the homes of friends and relatives. Even then the simmering hatred knows no bounds and there is no place safe for Christians in Pakistan. My aunt has sent her whole family away and is protecting her home by herself, desperate not to let looters take any of their meagre hard earned possessions. Already Muslim looters have been said to have broken into local homes and stolen the livelihoods of those who chose life over possessions. My aunt’s nephew was one of the heroic volunteer security teams at St James catholic church who grabbed the bomber and in doing so saved many lives.
So right now as we speak the community of Youhanabad and surrounding area of Lahore is awaiting an attack. Local Ministers have challenged all parishioners to go to church, stating it is important that we show strength through adversity, to prevent further bullying. Our fear is the security force currently deployed to curtail any potential Christian mob rioting through the streets, will be less effective when a Muslim mob arrives to torch one of Pakistan’s largest Christian communities.
If no attack occurs tomorrow we can all sigh a deep breath of relief. But the fact will remain an attack could happen at any time and it is not fair to any community to feel so isolated and fearful. International intervention is required or special asylum status for Christians in Pakistan. If you live in Western nations, please call on your respective governments to analyse this growing humanitarian crises.
We call on our members to adopt the images on this post as banners of solidarity on your FB, twitter or google plus profiles. Please also pray for a restoration of peace and the safety for Christians in Lahore and the entirety of Pakistan.
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