Pakistan: Christians living in constant fear and peril

Father Emmanuel Asi

Christians at Mass in Pakistan

Here's another look at how non muslims are treated in a muslim society. Islam must be stopped from encroaching on Western civilization.

FROM CAN NEWS:

Pakistan: Christians living in constant fear and peril
Posted by ACN News on 2/9/2008, 9:38 am
Board Administrator
ACN News 2.09.2008

By Eva-Maria Kolmann

Father Emmanuel Asi, secretary of the Catholic Bible Commission of Pakistan and parish priest of a large parish in Lahore, has told the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that Christians in Pakistan are living "in constant fear and peril".

He cited the example of a 13 year old Christian girl who only recently had been kidnapped and raped by a Muslim man. Such incidents were a regular occurrence, he said. In order to avoid punishment for this crime, the man involved would simply assert that the woman was now a Muslim. He would "marry“ her, but then send her away again after a short time. No one could do anything to stop this, since the victims were put under such great pressure by their "husbands" and threatened with death, so that they themselves would confirm in court, in the presence of their parents, that they had converted to Islam. In this way a Muslim man could abduct and rape any woman with impunity, he said.

The poverty of Pakistani Christians moreover often leads to a situation in which entire families are dependent on large landowners, he told ACN. This was in fact "a form of slavery", he added, for people were not paid monthly but received their pitiful wages - if at all - only after the harvest. Again, Christians were also severely discriminated against in seeking employment and in applying to schools and universities, he added, since a Christian name was all that was needed for them to be rejected. Similarly, before the courts, Christians were second-class citizens, he insisted.

Nonetheless, Christians in Pakistan are "proud and happy" that they are Christians, Father Asi emphasised. They look on their Christian faith as "a grace and great blessing", even though their lives are "painful and full of fear and frustration". He continued, "we know, in the case of the early Christians, that persecution and oppression played an important role in the deepening and spread of the Faith. In Pakistan we are experiencing the same thing."

Another positive aspect, he adds, is that the witness of the Christians in their personal dealings with Muslims changes something, and the Muslims sense that "Christians are different". Muslim women especially are drawn by the "freedom and joy" that they see among Christian women, for "Christian women can go to church with the men, they can sing in the choir, and in many places girls can even become altar servers". Similarly, the presence of the Catholic religious sisters is a "magnificent witness", Father Asi says. Many Muslim girls love to be taught in Catholic schools, for the Church places great emphasis on the education of women and runs numerous women's groups, to which Muslim women are also regularly invited. It is from the women especially that Father Asi is hoping for a transformation of society.

Christians make up only a small minority in Pakistan of around 1.5% among a population that is 97% Islamic. They are looked on as the lowest level of society and again and again are the victims of discrimination and abuse.

To help the work of the Church in Pakistan please contact the Sydney office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web: www.aidtochurch.org