Christian community deplores state’s failure to protect them

Members of the Christian community of Pakistan on Friday expressed disappointment at the fact that their community never served justice in numerous mob attacks against them.

They were speaking at a protest held in front of the Karachi Press Club (KPC) against the recent attacks on churches and houses of the Christian community in Faisalabad and Jaranwala. It was said that owing to flaws in the prosecution and judicial system, the suspects arrested for committing the assaults were never put on fair trials to get punishment while the government did not have public reports of any inquiries carried out in such incidents.

These views were expressed by a number of protesting Christian community members, minority-wing leaders of mainstream political parties and representatives of welfare and civil society organisations who attended the protest.

The organisations that participated in the demonstration included the Muttahida Masihi Council Pakistan, the Christian National Party, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) minority wing, the Christian Alliance of Pakistan, the Mission Wisdom Network, the National Commission for Justice and Peace, the Catholic Church and Christian Rights Defence Council. The protesters also condemned the desecration of Holy Quran.

Non-stop hatred

The protesters lamented that some elements had been spreading non-stop hatred against Christians and insulting holy places of Christians to deliberately offend them, but the government and police failed to provide security to the Christian community.

National Commission for Justice and Peace Coordinator Kashif Anthony told The News that the Christian community expected justice from the courts. He said their religion had been insulted and houses of the community razed to the ground.

All religions should be respected, he said, adding that the Christians were free and equal citizens of the country as the founder of Pakistan had mentioned in his famous quote.

Talking to The News, Anna Roy of the Muttahida Masihi Council Pakistan said that Christians were the third-largest minority in Pakistan making up about 1.27 per cent of the total population as per the 2017 census.

She said the Christian community was not safe anywhere in the country. “We are used to tolerating hatred, discriminative remarks and derogatory comments about religion but at least we are human beings and no one has the right to burn our houses,” she remarked.

Raja Khokhar of the Christian Alliance of Pakistan said police had registered cases against the rioters under the Section 295-C but the Christian community wanted the entire Section 295 to be included in the cases.

He demanded that similar sections be invoked whether any holy scripture — be it the Quran or the Bible — was desecrated.

No justice in past 

Karachi PPP deputy secretary and member of the Christian community Naveed Bhatti pointed out that a number of mob attacks had been carried out in the past against the Christian community but justice was not ensured after any of such incidents.

He cited mob attacks in Shanti Nagar and Joseph Colony in Punjab and Michael Town in Karachi, in which justice was not served. He lamented that even inquiry reports about those incidents were not made public.

If the authorities had taken those incidents seriously, no one would have dared to initiate another mob violence against Christians, he asserted. Munawar John, another protesting leader of the community, said that if the previous incidents had been investigated, the recent incident would not have happened.

He claimed that over a dozen small churches had been set on fire in the recent mob attacks in Punjab and several families were living under the open sky because the attackers had demolished their houses.

“Even our graveyards were destroyed,” he said.

Expectations

Earlier, addressing a press conference at the KPC, Archbishop of Karachi Benny Travas from the platform of the Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi said Pakistan belonged to all of its citizens.

He deplored injustice against Christians in Jaranwala and called for ending widespread violence against the Christian community residing there.

He asked how many times and for how long Christians would be subjected to violence and discrimination. The state must arrest the culprits, bring them to the court of law and punish them according to the law so that such incidents did take place in the future, he said.

He also condemned disrespect towards the Quran and stated that such incidents should be thoroughly investigated and those who were responsible should be punished. “We are looking forward to practical actions of the current caretaker government. We will announce our future course of action if no action is taken,” he said.

Chronology of attacks

The history of attacks on the Christian community in the country is long. According to a list compiled by The News in 2015 and reports of other organisations, a mob inclusive of thousands on February 6, 1997, set fire to Shanti Nagar, a village near Khanewal city of Punjab, and its neighbouring Tibba, raising the settlements to the ground.

In November 2005, a mob attacked Christians in Sangla Hill and destroyed Roman Catholic, Salvation Army, and United Presbyterian churches.

In February 2006, a number of mob attacks on churches and Christian schools took place in the country after an insulting publication against Islam appeared in Denmark.

In August 2006, a small but armed mob attacked Christian homes on the outskirts of Lahore. At least three Christians were seriously injured and several houses were burnt in the incident.

On August 1, 2009, eight Christians were burnt alive and a church was set ablaze in Gojra over allegations of desecration of the Holy Quran. Non-fatal injuries were 19.

An armed mob led by a gangster stormed a church in Multan on February 14, 2014.

An attack on October 28, 2011, on a Protestant church in Bahawalpur resulted in 16 deaths.

On March 9, 2013, a violent mob set fire to houses of the Christian community in Joseph Colony in Badami Bagh, Lahore.

On September 22, 2013, the All Saint's Church in Peshawar's Kohati gate was targeted with double suicide bomb blasts that resulted in 80 deaths and injuries to over 100 others. On the same day, a mob set houses of the protesting Christian community and a church in Michael Town in the Korangi area of Karachi on fire on the pretext that they had thrown stones at a mosque.

On September 23, 2012, an angry mob in Mardan set fire to a church, St Paul’s High School, a library, a computer laboratory, and the houses of four clergymen, including that Bishop Peter Majeed. The protestors were furious over the making of an anti-Islam film.

On 15 March 2015, two blasts took place at a Roman Catholic church and a Christ church during the Sunday service in the Youhanabad area of Lahore.

On 27 March 2016, at least 70 people were killed and over 340 wounded when a suicide bomber targeted Christians celebrating Easter at a playground in Lahore.

This list is certainly not complete. Moreover, it also does not include violence against individual Christians.