extremely fearful of Muslims
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| India Abroad News Service | |
| Pakistan's Christians extremely fearful of Muslims |
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Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1997 15:38:48 -0500 Over 100 Pakistani Christians gathered in front of the country's Consulate to denounce the attack on three Christian enclaves in the Pakistani district of Multan, earlier this month. In a letter addressed to Pakistani President Farooq Legari, Mr Shadab E Khokhar, President of the Canadian chapter of International Christian Awaz, noted that his group, "With deep sadness and anger must protest the savage attacks on the Christian community of Khanewal, Bhuttabad and Santinagar on February 5 and 6, 1997." Published reports said that two people were killed, 15 injured and thousands left homeless as a result of the violence. Christians constitute about 3 per cent of Pakistan's 130-million population. "Coming just two days after Pakistan's national elections of February 3, 1997, the attacks may be a portent of more dangerous things to come," said Mr Khokhar. "Pakistan's Christians are extremely fearful," he said, alluding to the fact that the previous government of Pakistan Prime Minister-elect Nawaz Sharif's Muslim League oversaw implementation of an Islamic Constitution, setting the stage for the country's infamous blasphemy law which grants death penalty to anyone found guilty of blasphemy towards Islam or its Prophet Mohammed. Mr Khokhar said that the Pakistani Christian population has long maintained that the law is used by Muslim fanatics to harass them and have asked for its repeal. In the letter to President Legari, Mr Khokhar wrote, "It is clear that the law of Pakistan does not protect Christians but rather targets them." Mr Khokhar said the Christian population in the three areas fled for their lives when the stick-wielding, stone-throwing mob beset their enclaves, burnt and looted churches, a mission school and its hostel, and number of shops and houses. He said that about 80 members of their organisation met on Feb. 9 to discuss the condition of Pakistani Christians. They concluded that when the violence started, local Pakistani police "were ineffective and the army was eventually called in to maintain law and order," Mr Khokhar said. About 30 members of International Christian Awaz also camped in front of Queen's Park (seat of the Ontario provincial govt) in Toronto to bring to the notice of the provincial parliamentarians the condition of Pakistani Christians. "Christians are always treated as second-class people in Pakistan," Mr Khokhar claimed. Six members of the group, including 10-year-old Christopher Khokhar, were on hunger strike for a day. When asked about the cause of the violence, Mr Khokhar said the trouble erupted as a result of rumours that Christians had torn pages from the Islamic holy book, Koran. Speakers at the meeting in Toronto urged the Canadian government to investigate and protest the latest incident of religious persecution in Pakistan. The Canadian chapter of International Christian Awaz has demanded that the blasphemy law be repealed and the Pakistani government repair all the churches destroyed during the recent violence.