Christians work for democracy in Pakistan

Christians in Pakistan have been working to restore democracy in their country since the imposition of emergency rule on 3rd November by President Pervez Musharraf.

Last week, Pakistan's Catholic Bishop's Conference (PCBC) demanded that security measures used to arrest lawyers, journalists and rights activists be put to an end. Many of those arrested under the laws were Christians.

President Musharraf, who stepped down as head of the army yesterday, proclaimed the emergency on the grounds that it was necessary to fight extremist militants and control the judiciary.

Since the imposition of the emergency, however, over 5,000 activists have been arrested, and some suspect that it is not, as is claimed, to combat extremism, but rather to weaken political opposition to President Musharraf.

Last Friday the PCBC said, "People detained after the imposition of emergency [rule] must be released immediately and unconditionally," reports Compass Direct."

Peter Jacob of the Catholic Church's National Comission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) said, "It is a very positive thing that Christians were part and parcel of this movement for democracy."

Irfan Barkat from the NCJP and Nadeem Anthony, who works for the UN Special Rapporteur Asma Jahangir were arrested with 54 others for "illegal assembly" on 4 November, reports Compass Direct. The group was meeting at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan's offices to discuss the newly imposed emergency rule.

The charges against them were eventually dropped.

Compass Direct have also reported on Christian lawyer Khalil Tahir whose home in Faisalabad was raided by police on 6 November. Tahir is known for defending blasphemy suspects.

He told Compass, "I am in hiding because they are raiding my home." His wife and children, who were present at the first raid, have left their home to avoid the raids by the police.

According to Compass, dozens of Christian activists from the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance have been arrested after staging a protest against emergency rule in Lahore on 13 November.

The rise in Islamic extremism has impacted the lives of Christians in Pakistan. On 16 November three Christians were killed in the crossfire of a fight between government and extremist forces in Swat Valley.

The three of them, known only as Waheed, Gulzar and Raja, were killed as they returned home on the road to Mingora from their work as office and home cleaners in Kabler.

Although their funerals were on 18 November, it was not possible for a priest or pastor to attend as all the roads were blocked and there are currently no clergymen in Swat valley to minister. There are around 70 Christian families in the area.

The three men were buried in a small graveyard under a bridge, one local Christian told Compass: "They all have small children, and the ladies are uneducated and have no work. We went to buy them some food, but we need special prayer for them."

Swat valley became extremely volatile when Muslim cleric Maulana Fazlulla declared war on the government in July. Since then his forces have closed girls' schools, bombed CD shops and forced women to cover themselves totally in public. They have also threatened Christians who have refused to convert to Islam.

The population of Pakistan is around 165 million, of which approximately two per cent are Christian.