Pakistani Christians fear mobs

BY MORRIS JOHNS
AN ANGRY demonstration was held in London last weekend to highlight the persecution of Christians in Pakistan.
Women dressed in traditional saris and teenagers in the latest trainers held banners saying "Stop the Massacres of Christians"; "Treat Minorities Equally"; "We demand justice".
The demonstrators handed a petition in to 10 Downing Street, and then made their way through the streets of London to the Pakistan High Commission in Knightsbridge.
Saturday's demonstration comes in the wake of a vicious attack three weeks ago on the Punjab village of Shantinagar, which was stormed by a Muslim fundamentalist mob who torched houses, shops and churches. One human aid worker has described the present situation as "the worst case of group religious persecution in the last 40 years".
The day before the destruction of Shantinagar, Muslims attacked a Catholic church, school and boys' hostel in a nearby village.
The parish priest, Fr Darshan Theodore, had his personal belongings destroyed along with all the parish records, registers and other relisgious records. He only saved his own life by hiding behind a wall in his sitting room.
The boy's hostel, home to 150 boys aged between 10 and 16 years old, was also attacked.
Blankets were set alight, along with chairs and other pieces of furniture. Many of the children ran away; about 50 of the boys hid under the beds.Intermittently, Christians have been persecuted in Pakistan since Independence in1947, without much protest from the Western churches.
Christians and other minorities are often discriminated against in employment, education, cultural and sporting fields.
The Government has taken over all the Christian schools and their children have been forced to learn Islamic studies at the schools.
But things really took a step for the worse in the 1980s, when blasphemy laws were created, implying a mandatory death sentence for anyone making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed.
The peaceful -and often very poor Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities are in no position even to contemplate making such remarks.
Mr Nawaz Sharif's newly formed government have promised to protect religious minorities.
But moderate Pakistan has always had to contend with a powerful fundamentalist caucus, and many doubt whether anyone in Pakistan's current volatile political climate will risk alienating it. Speaking from Pakistan this week, one Christian source told the Herald that the Christians there"were in a fragile and insecure position.
"With their guns and ammunition, the Muslims are in a powerful position. We are all very worried".
The Roman Catholic Church is the largest single Christian group in Pakistan, although there are also substantial Anglican and Methodist communities.