Pakistan. Christians Hit by Islamic 'Purity' Pogroms

Nine dead in in a series of attacks against those whose only fault is that of not being Muslim. To the silence of the rest of the world.

ROME (Chiesa) - They threw stones, burned homes, and pursued those fleeing, firing wildly. In the end, nine people were dead. Seven of them have the same last name, Hamid, and belong to the same family clan as Fr. Hussein Younis, a Franciscan. They include two children (in the photo by Saqib Khadim, the coffins). Their only fault is that they were Christian.

It took place in Pakistan, in Gojra, in the province of Faisalabad in eastern Punjab. There are 1.3 million Catholics in all of Pakistan, and the same number of Christians of other denominations, out of a population of 160 million, almost entirely Muslim. But the intolerance against this small, poor, peaceful minority has become a fact of life, exploding at times into bloody aggression.

The latest episode was sparked by an innocent marriage celebration among Christians in Koriyan, a little village near Gojra. It was July 30. Interviewed by Lorenzo Cremonesi for "Corriere della Sera" on August 3, Fr. Younis recounts:

"As is customary, at the end of the ceremony in the church the guests tossed flowers, rice, a few coins as tokens of prosperity, and slips of paper with greetings or prayers written on them. The problem is that some Muslims started to claim that the slips of paper were pages torn out of the Qur'an, an extremely serious offense for Islam and even more serious in these times of fanaticism. Very soon insults and accusations were flying, and then stones. A few homes were set on fire in the afternoon. But the more serious violence exploded on the morning of Saturday, August 1, in Gojra, around the Christian neighborhood.

"Our people counted eight buses full of extremists who had come from outside the area. Unfamiliar faces, people armed to the teeth. Their slogan was that we Christians have the same religion as the American soldiers, and therefore we are enemies, we deserve death. First they threw stones, then they sprayed gasoline, and finally came machine gun fire and bombs. Here around me everything is burned, charred. The death toll could have been much worse if the Christians had not fled immediately. My relatives were not fast enough, and they were burned alive, trapped in the flames."

The bishop of Faisalabad, Joseph Coutts, also interviewed by "Corriere della Sera," commented as follows:

"It is clear that these pogroms have been organized by groups that, for the purpose of disrupting Pakistan, in addition to Afghanistan, are doing everything they can to sow violence. They have proven this to us with their attacks on major Pakistani cities, and are now moving on to attacks on Christians. The most serious fact is that now they are able to mobilize great crowds of faithful against us. I find this an alarming phenomenon, worse than the isolated bombing attacks on churches that have terrorized Christians since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan in 2001."

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The bishop recalls at least four anti-Christian pogroms that have seen the mobilization of large masses of demonstrators ready to use violence: "The first time in recent years was in 1997, in the village of Shanti Nagar. Eight years later, the attack was repeated in the town of Sangla Hill. Last June 30, there was one in the village of Bahmani Wala, in the region of Kasur, not far from here. And now in Koriyan and Gojra, they have set fire to dozens of homes."

The pretext for the violence and persecution is almost always law 295, which in the name of sharia stipulates extremely harsh punishments, even life in prison, for those who offend the Qur'an or Mohammed. "The problem is that this law is used in a completely arbitrary way. Often the word of a Muslim citizen is enough to have a Christian put in prison without any concrete proof," Bishop Coutts continues. The latest trial concluded last April 17 in Lahore, with the acquittal of two elderly Christians, James and Buta Masih. The two innocent men had spent more than two years in prison. It has been calculated that since 1986, the accusation has been used against 982 Christians. 25 of these were killed by Muslim fanatics.

After the latest massacre, the prime minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, appointed a committee of inquiry and announced compensation of 500,000 rupees, a little more than 4,000 euros, for the relatives of the victims.

Last July 6, compensation of 20,000 rupees was given to each of the 57 families whose homes were destroyed in the anti-Christian pogrom on June 30 in Bahmani Wala. The payment was given in the presence of three Catholic priests and other Christian leaders, in front of the village church used by the various confessions.

Before this, the Catholic Church had also suffered damage as a result of the suicide attack on May 27 against a police building in Lahore. The building was entirely destroyed, with 35 killed. But four of the adjacent buildings were also partially collapsed: the bookstore of the Daughters of St. Paul, and three Catholic junior high schools.

In March of 2008, the cathedral of Lahore was also damaged by the bombing of a nearby government building.

For three days after the latest pogrom, all of the Catholic schools of Pakistan were closed as a sign of mourning.

The bishops and the apostolic nuncio Adolfo Tito Yllana have repeatedly asked the Pakistani authorities to act in defense of the assaulted religious minorities. Their conviction is that a genuine martyrdom is taking place, with the Christians chosen as "scapegoats" by the hatred of Muslim fanatics. Similar pogroms in Pakistan have also targeted an Islamic branch banned as "heretical," which numbers about three million followers, the Ahmadi.

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In a telegram sent on August 3 to the bishop of Faisalabad, Joseph Coutts, and signed by the Vatican secretary of state, Benedict XVI expressed his sadness over "the senseless attack on the Christian community of Gojra City," with the "tragic killing of innocent men, women and children." And he appealed to the Christians of Pakistan not to give up the effort to "build a society which, with a profound sense of trust in religious and human values, is marked by mutual respect among all its members."

In an interview with Vatican Radio, the nuncio in Pakistan said he had been "comforted by the words of forgiveness from a Christian whose home had been burned, and said: 'Let us hope only that God gives them the light to see the right way'."

The nuncio commented: "This is more powerful than any homily that I could give. Here there is the Christian spirit that always reigns among these suffering people."

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Chiesa is a wonderful source on all things Catholic in Europe. It is skillfully edited by Sandro Magister. SANDRO MAGISTER was born on the feast of the Guardian Angels in 1943, in the town of Busto Arsizio in the archdiocese of Milan. The following day he was baptized into the Catholic Church. His wife’s name is Anna, and he has two daughters, Sara and Marta. He lives in Rome.