Pakistani Christians Protest Church Attack That Killed Over 80 Persons

Pakistani Christians have protested across
the country to demand better protection for
their community after a pair of suicide
bombers blew themselves up outside a
historic church in Peshawar, killing more
than 80 people and wounding at least 140 others. Monday’s protests in towns and cities
throughout Pakistan included major cities
Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and
Faisalabad. Angry Christians blocked roads and burned
tires as they demanded government to take
stronger steps to protect them. Churches and other sites important to the
Christian community in Peshawar have been
given little extra security, said police official
Noor Khan. “Our state and our intelligence agencies are
so weak that anybody can kill anyone
anytime. It is a shame,” said Paul Bhatti,
whose brother, a federal minister, was
gunned downed in 2011.



While government officials have denounced
the attack, this has been of little consolation
to the Christian minority. The small and largely impoverished
Christian community suffers discrimination in
the overwhelmingly Muslim-majority nation
but bombings against them are extremely
rare. There is growing concern against the
possibility of future attacks. “We had very good relations with the
Muslims — there was no tension before that
blast, but we fear that this is the beginning
of a wave of violence against the
Christians,” said Danish Yunas, a Christian
driver wounded in the blast. “We fear there will be more of this in the future.”



The suicide bomb attack on All Saints church
in the northwestern city of Peshawar came
after a service on Sunday is believed to be
the deadliest ever to target Pakistan’s small
Christian minority. Only around two percent of the Pakistan’s
180 million population are Christian.