Pakistan's tiny Christian minority is dedicated to their faith. They are the salt of the earth, enduring hard lives, doing menial work and living in modest dwellings. They are peaceful and humble people.
And yet Christians are hated by much of Pakistan's Muslim-majority society, which inflicts terrible religiously-motivated violence on them. It's not right, and the community of nations should say so.
What is the current state freedom in Pakistan? "Alarmingly, conservative attitudes are growing, supported by the increased restrictions and threats to freedom of expression and association from the government and extremist groups," said Kiri Kankhwende, a senior representative for Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a United Kingdom-based human rights organization that advocates for religious liberty around the globe.
Church bombings
There is little doubt that Pakistani Christians are treated as second-class citizens by the state. Kankhwende pointed out that Pakistan's constitution guarantees freedom of religion. "However, Article 2 states that, 'Islam shall be the state religion of Pakistan'," she noted.
"In reality, there are many restrictions on the Christian community as discrimination on the basis of religion is a very deep rooted problem in Pakistan," continued Kankhwende. "Though discrimination may not be direct, Christians and other minorities are unable to rise to high ranking positions in the military and air force."
CSW representatives travelled to Pakistan in 2015 on a fact finding mission. And what they found was disturbing.
Christians are often targeted by Muslim mobs or extremist groups in Pakistan. But on many occasions, the authorities just sit back and do little to protect Christians and other religious minorities. "If you look at the Youhanabad double church bombing," said Kankhwende, "the response from the state and government was at times inconsistent and even discriminatory."
Clergymen speak out
When writing about Pakistan, it's important to gather, if possible, first-hand accounts of persecution. Two Pakistani clergymen spoke to The Whig-Standard about the challenges facing Christians in an increasingly hostile environment. To protect them from reprisals, their names and locations are being withheld.
Are Christians in Pakistan persecuted? "The question you asked can be answered by any Christian in Pakistan, because every Christian faces discrimination or persecution in his daily life," a Pakistani pastor said in an email interview. "Some are physically tortured and the other are mentally tortured through hate, discrimination and fear of (the) blasphemy laws."
Do government officials and police in Pakistan discriminate against Christians? "Yes," replied the pastor, alleging that the police have been "involved in discrimination, torture or persecution of Christians."
In addition, he stated that members of Pakistan's "poor Christian community" are "always reluctant" to register complaints regarding assaults perpetrated against them by Muslims. And they have good reason to believe that they will not be treated fairly by the authorities.
"Many times Christian girls were raped, kidnapped, forced to convert to Islam and forced to marry with Muslim males," the pastor said of common crimes against the Christian community. "But when their families went to police station for filing case against the culprits, police harassed the families and pressurized them to not raise (their) voice and sometimes refused to register the case."
The protection of Christian neighbourhoods and homes is not a priority for the police either, said the pastor. For example, when Muslim mobs attacked and burned Christian homes in Lahore in 2013, police failed to respond. And the perpetrators were never brought to justice.
The pastor alleges that police recently "attacked a church during Sunday worship and tortured (another) pastor on the charge of keeping the sound high in the church." And he also alleged that "if a Christian is charged and arrested by police for some offence, he is treated badly and tortured by police or other prisoners in the jail."
"This kind of discrimination is found not only in the police department," said the pastor, "but also increasingly in other departments of government."
Do Christians face societal persecution in Pakistan? "Yes," answered the pastor. "Christians are facing harassment or persecution in day-to-day life. And Christians are living a life of fear in their workplaces."
Young Pakistani Christians are not spared the wrath of hatemongers. For example, "Christian students are not allowed to drink water from the same tap or same glass from which other Muslim students drink." If they do, Muslim students might falsely accuse them of blasphemy, which is a capital offence in Pakistan. Consequently, Christian students live in constant fear of being threatened with Pakistan's blasphemy laws, said the pastor.
"And Christians are beaten by Muslims, but they cannot complain because they live in fear that they will be accused of blasphemy and no one will listen to them," he said.
Persecution and discrimination
Another Christian clergyman agreed that Christians face persecution and discrimination by police and society. "But these kinds of occurrence depends upon the environment and situations," he said in an email.
Pakistan's notorious blasphemy laws, including Bill 295 C, continue to be used to persecute Christians. False accusations of blasphemy are used by some Muslims to settle personal scores with Christians, or to torment the Christian community. "295 C is a hanging sword for innocent Christians, as people sometime trap people under this law for their personal revenge and create problems for the Christian communities," the clergyman said.
His church has been threatened "on many occasions," stated the clergyman. And he said that militants have attacked the church on three occasions.
"They opened fire on the church's front main wall, where the Cross was hanging," he said. One of those times, the attack was carried out in broad daylight, but the gunmen fled without ever being apprehended.
British inquiry
According to a 2016 report produced by a group of British parliamentarians, "Pakistan presents a particularly bleak environment for individuals wishing to manifest their right to freedom of religion or belief." The report of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief (APPG) found that "there is a real risk of persecution for members of the Ahmadiyya, Christian and Hindu communities in Pakistan, who are perceived as not adhering to the 'orthodox' ideology."
"Forced conversions to Islam, rape, and forced marriage remain commonplace," stated the APPG report. "Such intolerance and such virulent attacks pose a grave threat not only to Pakistan, and the region, but also to the UK, where around 1.2 million British-born Pakistani people now reside."
In addition, the APPG report stressed that "Christian women face persecution and discrimination because they are Christian." And the British parliamentarians alleged that "radical sections of the society, often with impunity from state officials, view conversions of Christian women and their forced marriage to Muslim men as a positive and righteous action."
It is not surprising that significant numbers of Pakistani Christians have fled the country. Many have made the trip to Thailand on tourist visas--with the intention of seeking safe haven. But when their visas expire, they are treated as criminals.
A BBC investigative report that aired early this year showed hundreds of Christians locked up in a cramped detention centre. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that nearly 12,000 Pakistanis sought safe haven in Thailand in 2015.
The APPG report came about after Lord David Alton visited Thailand in Sept. 2015 on a fact finding mission. His investigation revealed that many Pakistani Christian refugees are being incarcerated in crowded, filthy conditions.
The UNHCR has issued certificates affirming that the refugees are actively being considered for asylum. Under international law, such legitimate refugees cannot be legally detained. And yet some are literally languishing in chains.
Given the dire situation of Pakistani Christian refugees in Thailand, Canada should dispatch immigration and refugee officials to process their refugee claims and bring them to Canada. It is time to take for Canada to save the persecuted.
http://www.thewhig.com/2016/07/22/who-will-save-pakistans-christians
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