Thursday August 16, 2007Last updated: Saturday August 18, 2007
PAKISTAN: RELIGIOUS MINORITIES TOLD TO CONVERT OR DIE Christians remain
fearful after deadline passes for converting to Islam. Threatened church
in PeshwarISTANBUL, August 16 (Compass Direct News) Christians and Hindus in
northern Pakistan have received dozens of letters threatening them with death
if they refuse to become Muslims, church sources and a police official said
yesterday.
Police continued to provide security around churches and temples this week,
even as Christians received new deadlines for converting to Islam.
Though the original August 10 deadline for conversion has passed, Peshawars
minorities continue to live in fear, canceling church activities and skipping
services, a Catholic priest said.
Embrace Islam and become Muslims
otherwise, after next Friday, August 10,
your colony will be ruined, read more than a dozen identical letters collected
by the Church of Pakistan (COP) in Peshawar, 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of
Islamabad.
A spokesman for COP, Pakistans largest Protestant body, said that on August 7
some of the threatening letters had been thrown into the courtyards of
Christian and Hindu homes in Peshawars Kohati, Interior City and Cantonment
districts. Different letters were mailed to Peshawars Catholic and Protestant
churches.
All in all, we were able to collect only 15 of the letters from the
community, said Ashar Dean, assistant director of communications for COPs
Peshawar diocese.
Explaining that they were delivered to neighborhoods heavily populated by
minority families living in small houses around a common courtyard, Dean said
that the letters probably reached more than 100 Christians and Hindus.
A separate letter mailed to COP diocesan priest Joseph John threatened suicide
attacks against churches.
Our mosques and children are being martyred at American orders, read the
letter. Therefore the churches will also be wiped out from the face of the
earth.
Christian leaders immediately informed local police about the threats,
prompting a meeting with City Police Chief Abdul Majeed Marwat on August 10.
The security in their areas has been beefed up around churches and other
places of worship, Marwat told Compass yesterday, reiterating promises made to
minority leaders last week.
All Saints Church in PeshwarA Christian politician also brought the
letter to the national governments attention on Friday (August 10),
English-language daily Dawn reported. Pervaiz Masih, a member of the National
Assembly of Pakistan, read a copy of the threat letter to the assembly and
called on the government to take note of insecurity it had created among
Peshawars Christians.
But Christians remain uncertain how seriously authorities have taken the
threat.
The speaker [of the house] took the matter very lightly and asked [Pervaiz
Masih] to remind him about it in the presence of the interior minister, Dawn
reported on August 11.
While some Christian sources told Compass that Peshawar police had done a good
job providing security, others were hesitant to speak openly on the telephone
for fear that their criticism would draw police anger.
Its just a hoax, I presume, said Police Chief Marwat, explaining that a
similar incident in May had turned out to be a teenage prank.
More than 50 Christians fled the village of Charsadda this spring when a local
Christian politician received a letter threatening death if the community did
not embrace Islam. Two young students from an Islamic school eventually
confessed to the deed and were forgiven in a June 4 meeting between Muslim
religious leaders, government officials and COP Bishop Mano Rumalshah.
At least five families who fled Charsadda after the original threat have not
yet returned, Dean said.
When asked why Christians did not pursue a court case against the Muslim
youths, Dean said that their faith placed emphasis on reconciliation and that a
court case could have backfired.
If we had been harsh, things would have escalated and gone against our
interests, said Dean.
The cryptic comment reflects years of violent (though often isolated) incidents
against Christians in Pakistan.
In November 2005, a mob of several thousand Muslims destroyed four churches, a
convent and Christian schools in the Punjabi town of Sangla Hill after a Muslim
accused a Christian of committing blasphemy. No one was held responsible for
the attacks.
We have experience of our [Christian neighborhoods] being attacked by
extremists, so we took this very seriously, Dean commented.
Peshawar Catholic priest Yousaf Amanat speculated that references to the United
States in the letters could reflect anger over recent anti-Islamic comments by
U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.). The Republican presidential hopeful said on
July 31 that the best way to deter a nuclear terrorist attack on the United
States was to threaten to bomb Mecca and Medina in retaliation.
It was written that we are friends of the American people, said Amanat,
explaining that many Pakistani Muslims automatically link Pakistani Christians
to the West because of their religion.
New Threat
Amanat, of St. Michaels parish, said that he received a letter by mail telling
him to convert to Islam by Tuesday (August 14).
I was away from the parish, and when I came on Monday evening the post was on
my desk, Amanat said. It was written that if we dont become Muslim we will
be killed.
Ongoing threats have caused many Peshawar Christians to avoid church and other
public gatherings.
A human rights activist from the region told Compass that Catholic Church
attendance went down 40 percent on the Sunday after the threat. Amanat
confirmed the detail, saying that he was forced to cancel several church
activities planned for the week.
With this type of threat, there is no kind of security that can stop the
suicide attacks, said Dean.
Hindus constitute 2 percent and Christians 1.5 percent of Pakistans
population, according to the U.S. State Departments latest report on report on
religious freedom.
END
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