Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lahore (Agenzia Fides) - “We call upon people to recognize the reality of hatred, discrimination and injustice being encouraged and propagated in the name of religion. Groups and individuals doing this should not only be condemned, but should be taken to task for [damaging] the solidarity and independence of our nation.” his is what the Christian Churches in Pakistan have said after a recent meeting held in a seminary in Lahore, organized by the Justice and Peace Commission of the Pakistani Bishops' Conference.
The Church is trying to raise the voice against the widespread religious extremism of the Taliban, which is creating so many problems in the country, in the North-West Frontier Province, as well as in the larger cities (see Fides 19/5/2009).
The Christians in the past launched an alert in response to the increase in Taliban violence and today, as the government tries to take on the Islamic militants with their army, they are trying to spread awareness of the dangers of religious extremism, not only for the minority groups, but for the social fabric of the country, for the freedom of the state and the rights of all, in defense of the democratic system.
The Christians say they are “extremely worried” about the fact that the Taliban has brought confusion to the entire nation, commenting that “the question of religious minorities, who are discriminated against, concerns us all, because in the future the violence could be suffered by any other minority, political, or social community that is not subject to the laws of the Taliban.”
Suffering from this situation today are over 2 million refugees who are being forced to flee the Swat Valley, going into refugee camps and the outskirts of the major cities of Pakistan. The Christian Churches are working together to ask the government for a “structural reform, on a legislative and political level, to eliminate the possibility of a religious extremism that is invading the country.”
These say that it would be especially convenient to remove parts of the 17th amendment of the Pakistani Constitution (1973) on religious discrimination; uphold the principle of “one vote per person,” going beyond ethnic or religious background; eliminate the discrimination and injustice present in the educational system, leaving religious teachings to families.
In order to carry out this campaign of information and awareness, the Christian Churches of Pakistan have organized various initiatives for the coming months, e.g. a national day of prayer and fasting will be held on May 30, in solidarity with the thousands of families who are victims of fundamentalism; a national public demonstration on June 13; a Social Justice Day celebrated in an ecumenical spirit on August 16. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 25/5/2009)
