Boiling over

With at least one person being killed on March 16 in the violent protests that followed the church bombings in Lahore, one thing at least is clear — the Christians have had enough. Despite being persecuted and terrorised for decades, marginalised and discriminated against (as have every other minority group in Pakistan), they have mostly suffered in silence. Their homes have been torched, they have seen a baying mob throw a couple into a brick kiln to burn alive on a specious claim of blasphemy, they have left the country in droves and watched mutely as crosses hung with shoes are paraded through their neighbourhoods. They have listened to the pious platitudes of assorted political leaders after every atrocity — and last Sunday it all boiled over.



The immediate aftermath of the bombings saw rampaging mobs attacking the Lahore Metro Bus system causing significant damage, and pictures have emerged of the burning bodies of two men captured by the mob who were allegedly involved in the bombings. Violent protests continued the following day. Police claims to have been on duty at the entrances to the churches do not stand up to scrutiny and calls by Christian leaders for calm have been completely ignored. There can be no condoning of this behaviour, no matter the provocation and the provocation was indeed extreme, but the frustrations of generations were unleashed. Those frustrations are likely to be present in other minority communities, and although the minorities in general have no history of mass acts of violence a dangerous precedent has now been set. There were demonstrations in other cities as well, although none as violent as in Lahore. The government needs to stop shilly-shallying and move against those who bomb churches and other places of worship, and spout hatred from loudspeakers, inciting violence on the flimsiest of pretexts — or bereft of pretext beyond a difference of faith. For too long the mealy-mouthed expressions of support for minorities have been the stereotypical response of successive governments. Those bitten have now bitten back, the consequences of which are unlikely to be either peaceful or constructive.

Published in The Express Tribune, March  17^th,  2015.

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