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The massacre of 18 Christians in Pakistan is yet another sign that President Pervez Musharraf is fast losing his grip on the situation. The killings are being widely perceived as revenge against the US bombing of neighbouring Afghanistan.
In fact, Christians were being singled out for arson and looting since the September 11 WTC attack in New York. Several cases of Christian persecution have been reported from different parts of Pakistan in the past few weeks. Though President Musharraf has been sweet-talking the Christian world into doling out financial assistance under various pretexts, he has been callously ignoring the plight of Christians who constitute two per cent of his country's population.
Christians have been facing the brunt of religious intolerance in Pakistan, abetted by the leadership, for more than 15 years. The blasphemy law enacted by former President Zia ul Haq has been systematically used against the minorities, including the Hindus and Christians, for years. The blasphemy law sanctions the death sentence for speaking against the Holy Quran and Prophet Mohammad. The law is so draconian that a person can be hanged even on mere hearsay. There have been several cases in the recent past when Christians were hanged to death on unverified complaints. Reports prepared by the Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch have spoken volumes about Christian persecution in Pakistan, despite the fact that Christians have been living there even before Pakistan was born. Christianity had come to the region with the British; in the late 1800s, the Methodist Church was established in the cities of Karachi, Quetta and Lahore, to serve the English-speaking communities of Anglo-Indians and some British army and civilian personnel. Today the Church of Pakistan has eight dioceses with their own bishops.There is more than one reason for the world to condemn the killing of the devout.The Sunday massacre should be viewed in the context of the phenomenal growth of fundamentalist elements within Pakistan and the plight of sectarian and religious minorities including Hindus, Christians, Baluchis, Sindhis, Mohajirs and Shias since President Musharraf took over the country in October 1999. Rabid anti-Shia outfits like Sipah Sahaba have been executing prominent Shia leaders and professionals for the past several months in the name of ethnic cleansing. Sipah wields so much clout that even President Musharraf could not muster the courage to ban it despite clear evidence stockpiled in local police records. Sipah is closely linked to various terrorist outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammad, jointly spreading their network of terror and hate across the subcontinent. It is no coincidence that Jaish chief Maulana Azhar Masood belongs to Bhawalpur, the place where suspected Sipah activists massacred Christians. Even President Musharraf admitted that the killers were professionals. Only Sipah, with its close links to ISI and terrorist outfits, have trained assassins.
President Musharraf cannot shift
the blame for the massacre to some unknown terrorist groups. Such killings-which
continue to occur on both sides of the border with alarming frequency,
masterminded by the same set of people in Pakistan, pose an immediate threat
to the peace and stability of the region.
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