Christians in Pakistan take to the streets to protest the death in custody of a Catholic youth accused of blasphemy against Islam

Many won’t agree with this claim and consider it over-exaggerated. But they must then explain how the insult to a holy personage can be tantamount to the death sentence when none of the saints or prophets killed those who rebuked them, according to all the holy books.

But if I leave aside the inspiration of scripture and instead study Pakistani laws, which promote the “honoring of holy personages,” we will see this is the very driving factor behind murders such as the ones of the two brothers in Faisalabad this week.

They - a pastor in the ministry of United International Pakistan and his younger brother charged with blasphemy - where killed as they left court after an appearance. A church was later ransacked and Muslim-Christian tensions erupted into five hours of violence.

If this is the way Muslims enforce respect for their religion then it begs the question, how genuine is respect if it is born out of fear? Creating a climate of fear to make one respect something is an odd way of demanding honor. But Pakistani authorities don’t seem to care.

The Catholic Church has been engaged in this argument with government after government in Pakistan ever since the introduction of blasphemy laws to the country’s constitution in the early 1980s. Sometimes Church protest has been extreme, born of desperation. The late Bishop John Joseph of Faisalabad shot himself in 1998 in protest against a death sentence handed down to a Catholic convicted of blasphemy against Islam.

But still the laws are enforced. The Punjab dioceses alone have seen four cases of blasphemy this year.

This issue is not limited to Pakistan, of course, as ucanews.com reported earlier this month that Islamic militants chopped off a Catholic professor’s hand in Kerala, India, for allegedly insulting Islam in an exam question paper.

The victim’s family said that they have forgiven the attackers showing, at least, the power of Christianity in their own lives. But what impression of Islam is left in hearts of the families of all these victims? Did they finally understand through the violence, the strength of Islam’s religious doctrine?

But then to answer these questions would leave me open to charges of blasphemy.

India at least does not share Pakistan’s blasphemy laws on the statute books but the principle is the same - once a charge or allegation of blasphemy is made, escape is almost impossible. The allegation itself becomes judge, jury and sentence, with the law seemingly justifying taking matters into one’s own hands.
‘We don’t feel this country is ours anymore’

President Asif Ali Zardari has ordered a report on the facts in the most recent Faisalabad murders but judging by past form when other Christians have been attacked, the report will not be made public and yet another case will quietly close.

Not that Christian politicians are much help either. According to a parish priest in Faisalabad, Christian politicians were not available on phone although he tried to call them several times. This leaves many Christians in despair.

“We don’t know who to ask for help; we don’t feel this country is ours anymore,” the priest told me.

Fearful Christians are now criticizing the bishop and priests for failing to plead their case but in the past the Church got very far. Leaders say they will “only pray” since they are not politicians and can’t start campaigns although, to be fair, there has been some attempts in recent months with a Church commission conducting a signature campaign against the laws.

Individual clergy have also asked for the repeal of the blasphemy laws, using several platforms over the years. But much of that has fallen on deaf ears. Our political assemblies don’t seem to be interested in debating these controversial laws, leaving little doubt that more lives will be claimed by them in future despite the thousands of articles that have been written on the abuse of these laws.

Time for renewed protest movement

There is always hope that the recent killings might start a renewed movement against blasphemy laws but it is going to take a concerted decision by the Pakistan bishops to come in forefront of the battle. They are being called to do so by their flock as more and more Christians demand “visible Church leadership” - and its time they got it. They certainly deserve it.

There are precedents in other countries. Even peaceful Buddhist monks took to streets and five were killed when they demanded an end to military rule in Burma 2007. Although their initiative was later crushed by army, yet this was a clear demonstration of their leadership.

It is a worthy cause. Blasphemy laws are the biggest threat to Christians in Pakistan. Praying in chapels and dining with police officials by the bishops is important but change requires practical effort as well. Peace is not simply about being passive. There are a number of ways to demonstrate peacefully.

But the fight so far has been left to ordinary Christians who are demonstrating nationwide against brothers’ murder. They urgently need to be joined by the Church’s top leadership. These men need to step forward to deal with the situation that has reached crisis point. They have to “show” their rejection against spilling of more Christian blood so that the wounds of a persecuted community can start to be healed.

Failure to act in time will only increase the growing trust deficit between Church “leaders” and their flock.

Source: ucanews.com