August has always been an important month for Pakistan. It was on August 14, 1947, that Pakistan gained its independence. Founding father Muhammad Ali Jinnah sealed it when he told the Pakistani Constituent Assembly: “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed — that has nothing to do with the business of the State ... We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State.”
Sixty-three years since that immortal speech and politicians are yet to agree on the kind of freedom Pakistan’s Quaid-e-Azam (Great Leader) meant. Religious minorities can tell you all too well that his vision is yet to be fulfilled. Rather than a state of equal citizens, Pakistan has still never had a single Christian elected to its Parliament. Far worse than that, Christians are being killed by those who would rather see them dead than contemplate recognising them as equals.
But this year, August is significant for two additional reasons. Firstly, the government declared August 11 ‘Minority Day’ (although little credit is due to it while it fails to take any action to end the intense persecution of Christians happening right under its nose. Not surprisingly, Christians felt it more appropriate to re-name it Black Day and protested under that banner).
Secondly, August 1 marked the one year anniversary since the terrible attack on Christians in Gojra and Korian, during which six Christians were burnt to death, locked inside their own home, and dozens of Christian homes and churches were destroyed. A year may have passed but the wounds are still fresh today - I doubt this attack will be ever forgotten.
The government has worked to restore Gojra in the last 12 months but the burnt out house of the six slain Christians still stands blackened with a padlock on the door, a silent testimony to the grief and frustration felt by villagers who have yet to see their attackers brought to justice. An insult that cannot be assuaged by any amount of reconstruction work, the chief suspects continue to roam free and are even threatening deadlier attacks on Christians.
