Author:
Publication: UCAN News
Date: June 11, 2009
URL: http://www.ucanews.com/2009/06/11/church-institutions-threatened-with-bomb-attack/
A Church center in Pakistan's cosmopolitan
eastern city of Lahore has been threatened with a suicide bomb attack, one
of a series of intimidating messages given to Christians as the country's
security crisis worsens.
The threat was delivered on June 10 to a Christian
woman who lives next to Rabita Manzil, the National Catholic Office for Social
Communications, which includes the offices of the WAVE (Workshop Audio Visual
Education) studio, Radio Veritas Asia's Urdu service and the Union of Catholic
Asian News.
The woman said two masked men arrived on a
motorbike without number plates.
"We know that you and those at the recording
studio are Christians. We warn you to leave this area, embrace Islam, pay
1,500,000 rupees (US$18,750) or be ready to die in a suicide bomb attack.
Inform your neighbors as well," she quoted the men as saying.
Christians have received similar threats in
various parts of the country as fighting between government troops and the
Taliban militants continues to rage in the country's northwest.
Sacred Heart Cathedral, several Catholic schools
in Lahore and various pastors have received threatening notes telling them
to convert to Islam.
A Pentecostal Bible school in the southwestern
city of Quetta was closed indefinitely after suspected Taliban militants threatened
a suicide bomb attack last month.
Father Nadeem John Shakir, director of Rabita
Manzil, issued a statement in Lahore immediately after learning about the
threat to his center.
"This is the first time the studio has
received such warning," Father Shakir said in the press release June
10. "This has made us sad and very insecure. We are quite helpless in
this regard. The threat has also demoralized our employees. If something happens
to our center a number of Church activities will collapse."
In his statement, Father Shakir called on
people to prayer for studio staff and those engaged in "such inhuman
acts or supporters of such beastly activities, so that they may change their
nature and become good human beings."
The priest told UCA News that neighbors of
the center had been supportive.
"However, no one can guarantee the security
of our houses, convents, churches, schools, hospitals and other institutions.
Even the law enforcement agencies are not safe themselves."
Intense government fighting against Taliban
militants has triggered a wave of attacks in cities across the country, the
most recent being a suicide bombing of a hotel in Peshawar on June 9. The
attack on the city's premier Pearl Continental Hotel left 11 dead, including
two UN aid workers, and 60 injured.
The latest bombing affects relief efforts
in the country. Peshawar lies near the Swat Valley, where Pakistani government
forces are battling Taliban militia in fighting that has forced more than
2.5 million people from their homes. The hotel was used by some foreign aid
workers helping the displaced.
