Author:
Publication: The Times of India
Date: October 2, 2001
Jammed into their unmarked old chapel,
the small but fervent congregation of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church
on Sunday prayed for America to defeat terror without creating Christian
martyrs. Since September 11, Pakistani Christians say, hostility taints
what was always tolerance. Many say close Muslim friends now keep their
distance. And if any fighting starts over the border, many fear the worst.
"Every day we hear threats from
Muslims," said a high school teacher who pleaded to be identified only
as Anwar. "Sometimes, we don't sleep. We are terrified that if they attack
Afghanistan, we may be killed." Sabir Yaqoob, (28) who teaches physics
at a different high school, believes that U.S. President George W. bush
unleashed fury with an early reference to a "crusade," which the White
House later said was not meant to imply a religious war against Islam.
The White Mr Bush used the term in the sense of a "broad cause" and meant
no offence.
"He said it, and that's enough."
Mr Yaqoob said. "It is what the fundamentalists heard. Crusade means a
clash between Muslims and Christians, and that is what we are all afraid
of". His friend, Moussa Sadiq, (35) a phone company employee, broke in.
"Our old friends who used to eat with us, sit together morning and evening,
they tell us they will attack us if there is fighting," he said. "They
will be the first to kill us."
Sacred Heart is one of two Catholic
churches in Quetta. There is also an Anglican church. Officially, Christians
number 4 million in Pakistan, 3 per cent of the population. Church groups
say the total may be 8 million. Although a heavy majority of Christians
are in Punjab and Sindh, farther from Afghanistan where feelings run cooler,
the fear seems widespread.
Yaqoob said he was surprised, and
worried, at the sudden rise in tension. As a physics teacher, he knows
all about the laws of action and reaction. "We have always gotten along
in Pakistan," he said. "When I got married, Muslim friends came here to
this same church. But once this things starts to spread, who knows how
it goes?" If nothing triggers a violent outbreak, Yaqoob added, the tension
might pass. "I thing 75 per cent of Pakistanis hate terrorism and are against
Osama bin Laden" he said, "Only 20 per cent may be are fundamentalist.
It is always the negative which makes the most noise."
But, he added, any confrontation
would likely polarize the two religious, with extremists using the occasion
to rally support among the poorly educated masses. For now, there is nothing
close to panic, and opinions vary as to potential danger. (AP)
