Pakistan: Animosity Toward Christians Reaching Alarming Proportions
Jul 10 2007
Postings >> Pakistan

Animosity towards Christians in Pakistan is reaching alarming proportions, with fresh attacks now reported regularly.

Pakistan's Christian community is on high alert after security forces engaged in a gun battle with militants at the controversial Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad last week.

As 7x7 reported on June 12, radicals at the mosque have been defying the government for months and demanding strict Sharia or Islamic law. Now they are threatening violence if security forces do not back off.

These developments are of considerable concern to the church. As one RI partner put it, 'Whenever there is any incident against Muslims, Christians are always held liable. The Christians of Pakistan are in serious need of prayer.'

The catalogue of attacks and threats across Pakistan underlines the urgency of this call. Christians in the village of Shanti Nagar in southern Punjab, for example, have received hand-written letters warning them to convert to Islam or die.

The letters, written in Urdu, were targeted at church leaders -- and appear to be an attempt to discourage those who would normally build the community's morale. Villagers' fears are not ungrounded: 10 years ago, a 30,000-strong mob destroyed 13 churches and 800 Christian households there.

'Their purpose is to weaken the leaders,' says Joseph Francis, director of the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), an RI partner.

CLAAS is also investigating a report that up to 30 men tortured and gang-raped a young Christian man for refusing to convert to Islam. The young man was seriously injured -- but CLAAS reports that police have locked him up, amid claims that the youth was a thief.

Meanwhile, several Christians have fled the village of Bismillahlpur Kanthan, in Punjab, after a mob armed with guns, axes and sticks attacked a Salvation Army church on June 17. Seven Christians were injured and their building desecrated in the raid, apparently triggered by the church's plans to hold an evangelistic meeting.

• Pray for God's protection over Christians in Pakistan, in these tense times.
• Pray that the government will take steps to contain the violence and ensure that the rights of all citizens are upheld, whatever their faith.