wfn.org | Pakistani Anglican bishop says 'fears have come true' after massacre in church

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2001-311

Pakistani Anglican bishop says 'fears have come true' after massacre in church 

     (ENI) An emotional funeral was held October 29 at St. Dominic's church in 
the town of Bahawalpur in Pakistan's Punjab province for the 15 members of the 
Anglican Church of Pakistan massacred inside the same church during Sunday 
services. 

     Unidentified gunmen sprayed bullets on the Protestant congregation just 
before 9 a.m. local time on October 28, as participants were singing the closing 
hymn of the Sunday service at this Roman Catholic church used by the local Church 
of Pakistan congregation for its services.

     Among the dead was the church's pastor, Emmanuel Allah Ditta, who was 
leading the 100-member congregation when the gunmen stormed the church after 
killing a policeman on guard at the church gates. The government had posted 
police security at the request of the Christian community, who felt they needed 
protection after the start of the United States-led military action against 
Afghanistan. 

     "Fifteen of our people have been killed. Five are critical in hospital and 
10 others have been discharged [from hospital] after treatment for minor 
injuries," said Church of Pakistan bishop John Victor Mall of the Multan diocese. 
No groups had claimed responsibility for the killings. 

'Our fears have come true'

     Talking to ENI over the phone from Bahawalpur--100 kilometers from his 
diocesan office--where he rushed on Sunday on hearing of the tragedy, Mall said: 
"We have been feeling very insecure [after the bombing of Afghanistan began on 
October 7] and now, our fears have come true." 

     Mall said that "though the government provided security to us, this shows 
how vulnerable we are." 

     Dominican nun Anna Bakshi, a witness to events on Sunday, said: "Not a 
single wall of the church is without bullet marks. Those who ran to the sacristy 
and hid themselves escaped unhurt." 

     Principal of the Dominican convent school adjacent to the Catholic church, 
Bakshi told ENI that she "was terrified by the sound of the shooting of the 
automatic guns" coming from the church. 

     "Everything was over in five minutes, and I saw four men with beards running 
away from the church. The scene inside the church was heart-breaking with even 
small children and women lying in pool of blood," recounted the nun, one of the 
first to enter the church after the shootings. 

     Roman Catholic bishop Andrew Francis of Multan said: "The altar is riddled 
with bullet marks. They [the gunmen] have rained bullets on our people and there 
is blood all over the church." Francis also hurried to Bahawalpur as soon as he 
heard about the shootings inside the Catholic church. 

     "I certainly feel that it is a pro-Taliban outfit that has carried out the 
attack," Francis told ENI. 

U.S. attacks expose Christians to risk

     Churches in Pakistan had been demanding that the government provide security 
to churches and Christian institutions, fearing that angry crowds would vent 
their ire on the minority Christian community if the US and its allies attacked 
Afghanistan in the name of countering terrorism. 

     "We were concerned about our security but never thought that something of 
this sort would happen to us," said the Dominican nun. "I feel that this [the 
massacre] is retaliation for all that is happening in Afghanistan now." 

     The people are "so scared that they did not want to take the bodies to their 
homes," preferring to keep them at the church until the funeral was over because 
of the large police presence around the church after the massacre, the nun added. 

      The funeral ceremony was attended by four bishops, including the moderator 
of the Church of Pakistan, Bishop S.K. Dass. Nearly 5,000 people joined the 
funeral procession to the cemetery. 

     Dass described the massacre as an act of "revenge" by militant Islamic 
groups "thinking that Christians are supporters of America." 

     He added that continued attacks on Afghanistan would expose Christians to 
greater risk. 

Appropriate steps for safety

     In a statement released on October 28, the National Council of Churches in 
Pakistan (NCCP), expressing "utmost grief and sorrow" over the killings, deplored 
"this heinous and barbarous act of terrorism" and demanded that "the Government 
of Pakistan should hold a judicial inquiry and arrest the culprits and bring them 
to justice." 

     "The Government of Pakistan should also take appropriate steps to ensure the 
safety of all, particularly the Christian community, shocked by this horrible 
action of the terrorists," the NCCP said. 

     The NCCP groups the Church of Pakistan, Presbyterian Church, Salvation Army 
and Association of Reformed Presbyterian Churches--accounting for nearly half of 
the three million Christians in Pakistan. 

     Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf condemned the attack, blaming it on 
"trained terrorist organisations." 

     "The methods used and the inhuman tactics employed clearly indicates 
involvement of trained terrorists organisations bent upon creating discord and 
disharmony in Pakistan where Christians and Muslims have always lived in peace 
with mutual respect for each other," Musharraf said in his condolence message, 
according to the daily newspaper Dawn. 

More than money needed

     Mall said that the federal government has announced that it would offer 
100,000 rupees (US$1615) to relatives for each of those killed and the provincial 
state government of Punjab has declared that it would contribute 200,000 rupees 
each (US$3230) to the relatives of those killed, as well as a smaller amount to 
the injured. 

     However, Victor Azariah, NCCP general secretary, told ENI from NCCP offices 
in Lahore that the Christians in Pakistan need "more than monetary compensation." 

     "This is the worst attack on us [Pakistani Christians] in our history. We 
want the government to try its best to keep us safe," said Azariah. 

     Asked whether Christians would carry out street protests against the 
massacre, Azariah replied: "We cannot do much in this kind of a situation. There 
is already lot of tension. It would be better not to go for such protests." 

     The NCCP will hold an emergency meeting on October 31 to decide on church 
strategy for dealing with the "present situation," he added. 

     The Christian Liberation Front--an ecumenical advocacy group supported by 
both Roman Catholic and Protestant churches--said that Christians "will not keep 
silent about this tragic, historic incident." 

     In a letter to Musharraf, the World Council of Churches (WCC)--a fellowship 
of 342 churches world-wide--today expressed concern "about the safety and 
security of the Christian minority in the present highly charged environment of 
religious intolerance" and supported the NCCP in calling for a judicial inquiry 
into yesterday's church attack. 

     The National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), condemning the massacre, 
also urged "steps to protect the minorities" in Pakistan. "We also affirm our 
solidarity with the National Council of Churches in Pakistan in this hour of 
crisis," the NCCI said in a statement on October 29.