Pakistan: Christians Brace for Reaction to Cartoons
Feb 14 2006
Postings >> Pakistan

Christians in Pakistan are bracing themselves after Pakistani Muslims reacted angrily to cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in European newspapers.

As anger spread across the Muslim world, at least one church in Pakistan has been attacked, in a move which local Christians are interpreting as retaliation for the cartoons, BosNewsLife reports.

A group of about 20 Muslim men and women rounded on a church in the village of Kanwanlit in Punjab, and smashed doors, a window and the altar.

Eyewitnesses told Pakistan's Daily Times newspaper that the invaders 'spat on the Bible and hymn books' after trampling them under foot. While Christian men were held at gunpoint, Muslim women attacked Christian women: a 70-year-old woman was left with two broken legs and a 50-year-old suffered serious injuries to her back.

Asia News reports that the whole community was threatened with further violence if they took the matter to court.

The National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), a Pakistani human rights organisation, has reportedly linked the attack to a local land dispute: a local Muslim is said to have seized land owned by the church. Christian groups have since said, however, that the publication of Christian cartoons has fuelled animosity towards believers.

The NCJP has now called on the government to offer greater legal protection to Christians, citing examples such as the Sangla Hill raids of November where the law has failed them. 'Violence against the weaker communities is reappearing because the government has failed to take measures in response to incidents that happened before,' said the NCJP's Peter Jacob.

• Pray for members of the Kanwanlit church attacked earlier this month. Pray that their faith would be strengthened by this attack, and that they would withstand intimidation.
• Pray for Christians in Pakistan -- and in other Muslim-majority countries -- who face a potential anti-Christian backlash after cartoons offensive to Muslims were printed in western newspapers. Pray that these Christians would promote tolerance, not retaliation.