In the Land of

Two million Christians live in a condition

nby RICCARDO CASCIOLI

According to tradition, already in the first century St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew were preaching the Gospel in the land now known as Pakistan. The Christian presence, however, has always been scarce, despite the fact that since the 16th century Jesuits, Augustinians, and Carmelites have taken turns in their attempts at evangelization (interrupted by persecutions). Thus it was only in 1880 that the first Apostolic Vicariate was founded in Punjabñthe province where still today the majority of the some million Catholics are concentratedñand in 1950 that the ecclesiastical hierarchy was established.

Relations between the Church and the new state of Pakistan (created in 1947 after partition with India) were born under good auspices with the ìfatherî of the nation Ali Jinnah who, in the name of a secular conception of the state, ensured equal rights for all minorities. But the past 50 years have been a history of increasing discrimination against Christians. In 1972 the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto inflicted a severe blow to the Christian minority by nationalizing all the schools, which represent the fulcrum of the educational system in Pakistan. In the 1980s General Zia ul-Haq (who overturned Bhutto in 1977) attempted to reinforce his power by becoming the voice of the fundamentalist groups and promoting the Islamization of the country. In particular in 1985, besides introduction of the anti-blasphemy law, a ìseparate electorateî was instituted: minorities vote for their own candidates and on a different day from the general elections. Of the seats reserved for minorities, 20 are for women, 4 for Christians, 4 for Hindus, 1 for Buddhists and Sikhs, and 1 for the Ahmadiya (an Islamic sect considered to be heretical).

The return of the government to civilians at the end of the 1980s, with first Benazir Bhutto (Aliís daughter) and then Nawaz Sharif as head, made little change in the legislative situation. Indeed, the fundamentalist pressure became even stronger, to the point that Sharif (who had presented himself as protector of minorities) adopted their demands and resumed the project of the complete Islamization of Pakistan.

The Ayub Masih case

May 6, 1998 at 9:30 pm: In front of the entrance to the Tribunal of Sahiwal, 500 kilometers south of the capital Islamabad, the Bishop of Faisalabad, Most Reverend John Joseph, took his own life after a Christian, Ayub Masih, was tried and sentenced to death as a result of enforcement of the law on blasphemy. This extreme gesture shocked Pakistan and showed to the world the situation of apartheid in which Christians are living in Pakistan, a little more than 2 million persons (of whom half are Catholics) out of a population of about 136 million people.

The blasphemy law synthesizes in a sense the situation of discrimination in which Pakistani Catholics are living: introduced in 1985 during the military regime of General Zia ul-Haq, as part of a packet of laws in favor of Islamization, the law condemns to death ìanyone who by written or spoken words or visual representations or by any claim or insinuation, directly or indirectly, offends the sacred name of the prophet Mohammed.î This definition leaves ample room to the discretion of judges and pressure groups. Thus the anti-blasphemy law immediately became one of the sharpest tools for intimidating and threatening Christians. ìThe law is used for purposes of revenge or jealousy,î Most Reverend Anthony Lobo, Bishop of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, denounced at the end of 1998. ìAnd too, the magistrates who have to judge the defendants are subjected to intimidation and death threats from the fundamentalists pressing for a guilty verdict.î

The case of Ayub Masih is emblematic: the young man was arrested on October 14, 1996, by a crowd of Muslims, after he and his family were brutally beaten following a dispute between the small Christian minority and the Muslim community concerning some building sites for houses. Ayub was accused of expressing a positive opinion on Salman Rushdieís book, The Satanic Verses. Despite the fact that the defense proved the opposite to be true, Ayub was sentenced to death. The sentence was later suspended while waiting for appeal, but the condemnation has spread to his whole community, which is subjected to harassment from the fundamentalist groups. Ayub is the fourth Christian sentenced to die for blasphemy; the other three were later acquitted by the High Court at Lahore, but they are forced to live abroad because of constant threats. One of the judges who handed down the verdict of acquittal was even murdered. Another five Christians accused of the same crime were killed while their trial was still going on.

The Muslim reaction

The death of Bishop John Joseph seems to have provoked a reaction also in the Muslim community, to the point that for the first time the Catholic bishops have been able to meet with Islamic leaders. And Bishop Andrew Francis, named Bishop of Multan a few months ago and head of the episcopate for inter-religious dialogue, has spoken recently of ìmany positive examplesî of relations between Christians and Muslims. But the growth of fundamentalist groups, favored also by politicians who have used them to reinforce their own power, received a further boost, beginning in August 1998, by the attempt on the part of then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to introduce the Sharia. Sharif, who spoke openly of the ìAfghan Taliban modelî to be imported into Pakistan, tried to get Parliament to approve the 15th amendment to the Constitution, which calls for adoption of Islamic law as the basis of the legislative system. ìWe fear genocide,î Cecil Chaudry, leader of the Christian Liberation Front, said, not mincing his words, the day after the Chamber approved the amendment. Appeals by the bishops to the Prime Minister went unheeded, asking him to withdraw a project opposed also by many moderate Muslims and the opposition parties, who saw in it Sharifís attempt to concentrate all the power in his own hands. But just as in 1988 a mysterious airplane accident prevented General Zia from finishing the Islamization of Pakistan with adoption of the Sharia, so on October 12, 1999, a military coup blocked Sharifís plans. The new strong man in Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, immediately proclaimed his intention to improve the status of minorities. ìThis is the first time, from August 11, 1947, to today,î noted Cecil Chaudry, ìthat a head of state has declared explicitly that he wanted to reassure the minorities, guaranteeing their protection and rights.î

Anti-Christian violence