Despite curbs, Pakistani Christians observe Minorities Day

Aug 12, 2024

LAHORE: Thousands of Christians in Pakistan observed Minorities Day on August 11 despite government efforts to prevent protest rallies against what they say is increasing religious intolerance.

Police were deployed under a government order as Christians held a march in Punjab province chanting "freedom from fear” and holding banners against draconian blasphemy laws in the Islamic Republic.

According to Rawadari Tehreek (Movement for Tolerance), the rally was initially planned as a 24-hour hunger strike outside the Punjab assembly. However, the authorities' instructions forced organizers to change the venue and defer the hunger strike.

On August 10, police detained the interfaith group’s founding member, Saeeda Deep, and another office-bearer at a local police station in Punjab for eight hours.

In the afternoon, police blocked the way for organizers and more than 500 activists to leave the Pakistan National Council of Churches premises in Punjab’s capital, Lahore.

“This is injustice. There is no freedom to organize the annual Minorities Day, declared by the government in 2009, said 62-year-old Deep.

“The police cited threats from Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan [Here-I-Am Movement] to ban our gathering on August 11. Instead of stopping us, they should stop such violent groups,” said Deep.

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, which is known for whipping up anger over blasphemy, has made headlines for controversial and radical statements and actions in recent years. The outfit filed three petitions in leading cities like Karachi and Islamabad against planned rallies by Christians on August 6.

In Lahore, the protest was forced to be relocated from the state assembly to a place near the press club.

“We were denied to use our constitutional right to speak for persecuted minorities,” Rawadari Tehreek chairman Samson Salamat told UCA News.  

“The government was perturbed. The police threatened us with a lawsuit,” said Salamat and blamed Punjab's minority affairs minister Amesh Singh Arora for opposing the protest march on Minorities Day.

The Minority Day celebrates the historic speech of Pakistan's founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, on August 11, 1947, which promised to protect the rights of minorities like Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs.

Arora his Minorities Day message said people of different religions and their places of worship are safe in Pakistan.

“Those who conspire to defame Pakistan on the global stage will fail,” he said.

In the port city of Karachi, the municipal corporation initially withdrew permission to hold a minority rights march at Frere Hall, citing “unavoidable security threats” on August 6.

However, it withdrew the ban on August 9.

"Some people wanted to curtail our freedom. We hope the state will rein them in. This is our country,” said Luke Victor, one of the march organizers, addressing a crowd of more than 2,000 people on Aug. 11.

A charred Christmas tree and slogans against the misuse of the blasphemy law, forced conversions and hate crimes were used at the venue. Participants, including activists, sanitary workers, and students, chanted, “Change the law.”

“The event is a big slap in the face for Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan and the government. Police erected barriers to prevent many participants from attending. Officials instructed us not to speak about the blasphemy law,” said Victor.

According to the latest census in 2023, Pakistan has 241 million people. Christians make up 1.37 percent of the population, and Hindus make up 1.61 percent.--ucanews.com