An article in the Egyptian weekly edition of al-Ahram describes the lives of Christians, part of the ?protected? dhimmi class under Islam, in modern Pakistan. In general, writes columnist Iffat Malek, the Christians in Pakistan are ?vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.? The disdain for Christians is such that, according to the al-Ahram article, ?In many cases, the discrimination against Pakistani Christians is comparable to that suffered by the untouchables in India. Many Muslims will not, for example, let Christians share their eating and drinking utensils and they regard many of the jobs performed by Christians as unclean.?
?Ordinary Pakistani Muslims look down on [the Christians],? reports Malek, and they are typically found performing menial labor such as trash collection and street sweeping, with limited socio-economic mobility. Although there may be exceptions, with ?some [Christians enjoying] wealth and good positions,? most of Pakistan?s 1.4 million Christian dhimmi are among the country?s poorest people.
According to al-Ahram, beyond the economic and social degradation, the Christian Pakistanis are easy targets for their Moslem countrymen through Pakistan?s blasphemy codes, which are among the most sweeping in the Moslem world. Requiring only ?the flimsiest of evidence,? the article states, ?a spate of accusations [of blasphemy of Islam]? have been made against Christians in the nation?s courts, with the true motive behind the accusations being ?personal enmity, land disputes and the like.? The consequences can be more than personal, however, as the Egyptian weekly relates: in 1997 there was a Moslem rampage against Christian homes, churches and schools in the southern Punjab, ?the result of anger over blasphemy accusations against some Christians.?
Al-Ahram reports that since the September terrorist attacks in America, and more noticeably since America commenced its campaign against Afghanistan?s Taliban regime, the Christians in Pakistan have been the target for Moslem incitement and rage. They ?were complaining of harassment and said they felt vulnerable,? Malek writes. One Islamabad woman told al-Ahram that she would hear Moslem clerics in her mixed Christian-Moslem neighborhood tell their followers,??They're the ones - they are responsible?[for] the killings of Muslims in Afghanistan.? Ultimately, she told the paper, ?her family felt so scared in their Muslim- majority neighborhood that they moved to a Christian one.? In comparison, most foreigners, also targets of Islamic fanaticism, ?have long since left the country, or are safe in the heavily protected capital Islamabad,? the article reports.
The incitement quickly led to a violent attack on Protestant congregants in Saint Dominic?s church in Bahawalpur, Punjab, on October 28th. Eighteen people, including children, were murdered by Moslem terrorists who sprayed gunfire at the worshippers. According to the al-Ahram report, witnesses stated that six bearded men, shouting ?Graveyard of Christians - Pakistan and Afghanistan,? burst into the church, locked the doors and started shooting. While the attack was roundly condemned by official Pakistani spokesmen and religious leaders, reports the Egyptian weekly, ?many of them added that no Muslim could have carried out such acts. The usual charge that such an attack had to be the work of India's intelligence agency (RAW) was quick to follow??
While Christian leaders called for restraint, according to al-Ahram, and there have been no counterattacks by Christians since, Moslems in Pakistan, it seems have more to fear from one another. The article concludes by pointing out that ?Religiously- motivated violence is already a big problem. Dozens of people have been killed this year in sectarian and inter-sectarian attacks. Mosques and imambargahs (places of Shi'a worship) in Pakistan are regularly sprayed with gunfire and armed guards outside places of worship are the norm, especially during Ramadan and Muharram.?
In fact, ?unlike with previous Shi'a or Sunni killings, this latest attack is unlikely to lead to a tit-for-tat cycle of revenge attacks.?
?Ordinary Pakistani Muslims look down on [the Christians],? reports Malek, and they are typically found performing menial labor such as trash collection and street sweeping, with limited socio-economic mobility. Although there may be exceptions, with ?some [Christians enjoying] wealth and good positions,? most of Pakistan?s 1.4 million Christian dhimmi are among the country?s poorest people.
According to al-Ahram, beyond the economic and social degradation, the Christian Pakistanis are easy targets for their Moslem countrymen through Pakistan?s blasphemy codes, which are among the most sweeping in the Moslem world. Requiring only ?the flimsiest of evidence,? the article states, ?a spate of accusations [of blasphemy of Islam]? have been made against Christians in the nation?s courts, with the true motive behind the accusations being ?personal enmity, land disputes and the like.? The consequences can be more than personal, however, as the Egyptian weekly relates: in 1997 there was a Moslem rampage against Christian homes, churches and schools in the southern Punjab, ?the result of anger over blasphemy accusations against some Christians.?
Al-Ahram reports that since the September terrorist attacks in America, and more noticeably since America commenced its campaign against Afghanistan?s Taliban regime, the Christians in Pakistan have been the target for Moslem incitement and rage. They ?were complaining of harassment and said they felt vulnerable,? Malek writes. One Islamabad woman told al-Ahram that she would hear Moslem clerics in her mixed Christian-Moslem neighborhood tell their followers,??They're the ones - they are responsible?[for] the killings of Muslims in Afghanistan.? Ultimately, she told the paper, ?her family felt so scared in their Muslim- majority neighborhood that they moved to a Christian one.? In comparison, most foreigners, also targets of Islamic fanaticism, ?have long since left the country, or are safe in the heavily protected capital Islamabad,? the article reports.
The incitement quickly led to a violent attack on Protestant congregants in Saint Dominic?s church in Bahawalpur, Punjab, on October 28th. Eighteen people, including children, were murdered by Moslem terrorists who sprayed gunfire at the worshippers. According to the al-Ahram report, witnesses stated that six bearded men, shouting ?Graveyard of Christians - Pakistan and Afghanistan,? burst into the church, locked the doors and started shooting. While the attack was roundly condemned by official Pakistani spokesmen and religious leaders, reports the Egyptian weekly, ?many of them added that no Muslim could have carried out such acts. The usual charge that such an attack had to be the work of India's intelligence agency (RAW) was quick to follow??
While Christian leaders called for restraint, according to al-Ahram, and there have been no counterattacks by Christians since, Moslems in Pakistan, it seems have more to fear from one another. The article concludes by pointing out that ?Religiously- motivated violence is already a big problem. Dozens of people have been killed this year in sectarian and inter-sectarian attacks. Mosques and imambargahs (places of Shi'a worship) in Pakistan are regularly sprayed with gunfire and armed guards outside places of worship are the norm, especially during Ramadan and Muharram.?
In fact, ?unlike with previous Shi'a or Sunni killings, this latest attack is unlikely to lead to a tit-for-tat cycle of revenge attacks.?