Christians in Pakistan, Nigeria die in backlash

Christian Century, Nov 14, 2001

In apparent reprisals for U.S. bombing strikes in Afghanistan, groups of Christians in Pakistan and northern Nigeria were slaughtered in October by Muslim extremists. In the African nation, the killing of 100 to 200 Christians and the burning of at least five churches in Kano City took place in the context of continuing strife between Muslims and Christians. But in Pakistan's Punjab province rifle fire inside a Protestant church service killed 15 worshipers--endangering the uneasy tolerance previously extended to the minority Christians.

Unidentified gunmen in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, on October 28 killed a guard at the gates of a Catholic church where a Protestant congregation held services, then sprayed bullets inside, killing 15 people, including the pastor, Emmanuel Allah Ditta. "Not a single wall of the church is without bullet marks," said Dominican nun Anna Bakshi, a witness. "Those who ran to the sacristy and hid themselves escaped unhurt." She said she saw four men with beards running from the church, but no arrests were immediately made.

Bishop John Mall of the Church of Pakistan said that "this shows how vulnerable we are" despite the minimal security provided by the government. Since the bombing of Afghanistan started October 7, "We have been feeling very insecure, and now our fears have come true," Mall told Ecumenical News International. Bishop S. K. Dass, moderator of the Church of Pakistan, described the massacre as an act of "revenge" by militant Islamic groups "thinking that the Christians are supporters of America." Pakistani Christians have either taken neutral stances or opposed military action in neighboring Afghanistan.

The National Council of Churches in Pakistan--which includes the Church of Pakistan, the Presbyterian Church, the Salvation Army and a Reformed Presbyterian church association--urged the government "to take appropriate steps to ensure the safety of all, particularly the Christian community," and bring the culprits to justice. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf condemned the attack, blaming it on "trained terrorist organizations." Bishop Mall said the federal government announced it would offer $1,615 to relatives of each person killed in the attack.

In Nigeria, thousands of Christians were displaced from their homes and took shelter in police and army barracks following violence in a northern part of the country that lasted from October 12 to 15. Pro-Taliban demonstrations protesting the U.S.-led action inAfghanistan preceded the rampage. A Nigerian Red Cross official in Kano put the death toll at more than 100, and Christian leaders in the region said the figure was twice that.

Gabriel Ojo, minister of the Kano Baptist Church and president of the Kano state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, accused the police of "trying to hide the casualty figures in order not to expose the fallacy of the government and their inadequacies in the conflict."

Some Muslims were killed in retaliatory attacks by Christians and one mosque was reportedly destroyed. Alhaji Muhammadu Maccido, the spiritual head of Nigeria's Muslims, said that peaceful coexistence is a cardinal principle for both Islam and Christianity. "We shall fail as leaders if we do not seek to avert crisis [and] build bridges of unity.... Otherwise, marginalized people will seize the opportunity to foment crisis for selfish ends," Maccido told Muslim leaders in Kaduna, a northern Nigerian city.

--ENI